Gwen Stefani Presents A Beautiful ‘Bouquet’ On New Album

Grammy-winning singer Gwen Stefani has been working toward the release of her fifth studio album for quite some time. In 2020, she released the aptly titled “Let Me Reintroduce Myself” and followed it up with the singles “Slow Clap” in 2021 and “True Babe” in 2023. They were all intended for a more traditional pop album, but Stefani eventually tossed the concept aside and started from scratch. The end result is Bouquet, her first new album in seven years.

The “What You Waiting For?” singer has dubbed Bouquet a yacht rock album in celebration of ’70s pop radio songs rather than a straightforward country album. She first gave a taste of the album earlier this year with “Purple Irises,” a duet with her husband Blake Shelton. Her 2021 marriage to the country superstar and the relationship they share became a focal point of the new album, evidenced by the singles “Somebody Else’s” and “Swallow My Tears.”

While Stefani might field the criticism that too many of the songs on Bouquet are about love and her union with Shelton, she pointed out in an Apple Music interview that they’re actually “different angles on the same subject.” “It’s all these angles [of] the love,” she explained. “That’s why ‘Somebody Else’s’ ended up on the record, because I needed to show how dark it was to get to how bright and how the love could grow and keep growing.”

In the end, what emerged is a multicolored offering, if not a marked departure, from Stefani’s pop and ska-heavy catalog. Every choice on the tracklist was intentional, and even maintains the floral motif with songs like “Marigolds,” “Empty Vase,” “Late to Bloom,” and title track “Bouquet.” “I was very conscious of editing it down to getting this really handpicked bouquet of songs,” she said of the project.

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Ultimately, it felt natural for her to share the kind of music she’s enjoying today, rather than cling to remnants of the past that some fans might expect from her. “You have to evolve,” she told The Guardian of her new sound. “I wanted the songs, sonically, to represent more of who I am today.”