The Return of Ms. Stefani

Gwen Stefani has re-emerged from obscurity time and time again, but this has been the longest break she’s ever taken from the world of music. “Baby Don’t Lie,” the first single from her forthcoming third solo album (the title of which is as of yet unknown), is a return to the style so many fans outside of the No Doubt scope had come to love.

Co-produced by Benny Blanco, known for his collaborations with Kesha and Britney Spears, Stefani seems determined to remain Top 40 material, further hedging her bets by working on another No Doubt album at the same time. The lyrics of “Baby Don’t Lie” are melancholic in the vein of “Early Winter,” the last solo single she released in 2008, as she sings, “There’s something behind those eyes that you can’t disguise/Baby don’t lie/I don’t wanna cry no longer/I need a love that’s stronger.”

Stefani’s overt admission of giving in to middle age by appearing on The Voice (see: Christina Aguilera and Shakira for the same admission) seemed to very nearly solidify her atrophying musical ambitions, along with having a third child earlier this year. But thank god or whoever that Pharrell Williams helped remind her what she was destined for: solo brilliance.