Shiny & New Turns 2: #7 "Early Winter" - Gwen Stefani

“My heart had a crash when we spoke / I can’t fix what you broke"

I really do love Gwen Stefani and always have done. Probably always will. There’s something about her that has always set her apart from her contemporaries and will continue to do so; No Doubt has always been one of my favourite bands as well. I rushed out and eagerly purchased Love. Angel. Music. Baby and played the disc from start to finish more times than I care to remember, yet for some unexplainable reason when The Sweet Escape was released I couldn’t have been more indifferent. It sat in my iTunes for over a year, untouched. I can remember the song itself “The Sweet Escape” being particularly grating when played on loop on various radio stations – Akon’s insipid woohooing is the stuff of nightmares. And all of a sudden, one night I decided to listen to the album whilst wearing bitchin’ monster headphones. And I fell in love.

The album felt like it straddled the perfect line between paying tribute to the album which preceded it and not straying too far from the sound and styling while definitely keeping an element of experimentation. “Fluorescent”, “Breakin’ Up”, “Now That You Got It”, “4 in the Morning” – “U Started It” is probably my second favourite Gwen song ever, and certainly my favourite Pharrell production – yet while it isn’t my most preferred song on the album, “Early Winter” refused to be shaken from my consciousness for days after. The heartbreaking lyrics, written by the chief Keane songwriter (!), provided a perfect match and contrast to Gwen’s lilting, charmed voice which managed to be yearning yet entirely non chalant at the same time. It’s one of the few songs which speaks to me about a life experience which I believe I am yet to undertake myself but which I find myself entirely relating to. The synth assault simmering underneath the traditional percussion completes the retro-futuristic signature sound Gwen has polished up so well.