Gwen Stefani “can’t believe” she’s taken so long to release another solo album.
The No Doubt frontwoman has just brought out ‘Bouquet’, her first LP since 2017 and she was determined to get the record “right”.
She told Britain’s HELLO! magazine: “It took a while because, like any labour of love, I wanted it to be right.
“At the same time, I really can’t believe it’s been so long since the last album. So much has happened in that time.
“I was excited to be writing again, to record this album and get it out there, but it takes time for me to make the kind of music I want to make and I know my fans will like.
“It’s not like you can just press a button and the songs come.”
The record appears to touch on Gwen’s divorce from Gavin Rossdale – the father of her sons Kingston, 18, Zuma, 16, and 10-year-old Apollo – and subsequent marriage to Blake Shelton, but the ‘Don’t Speak’ hitmaker doesn’t care about other people’s opinions.
Asked if she is OK with how the personal songs may be received, she said: “I am, I want people to listen and enjoy this album. Anything else, any criticism or comments, is just noise.
“I know the truth of what happened to me and so do my family.
“My kids know the truth of what happened in my family. So no, I don’t let the nasty stuff get to me – I can’t let it.”
The title of ‘Bouquet’ was inspired by Blake.
Gwen explained: “It was actually Blake’s idea. ‘Bouquet’ symbolises how flowers symbolise a lot of aspects in life, from seeds of hope to everything that follows.
“Blake was planting alfalfa seeds when we first got together, so it just felt right.”
The 55-year-old singer previously explained she had to re-do the production on the record because she didn’t want to “compete with the past”.
She told GRAMMY.com: “I got engaged and married, so writing this album was writing about this new part of my life. When I finished doing the songs, I felt uncomfortable about the production — not because I didn’t love it, because I did, but it just felt like I was repeating myself.
“It felt like when you go back into the closet and find something old from high school and try to put it on and think it’s going to look good and it’s just not working anymore. I didn’t want to try to compete with the past at all.”