This Friday, the weekend of the Grammys, diamond-certified legend Gwen Stefani released new single and pop excellence “Make Me Like You”, and rightfully reclaimed her colorful throne from the L.A.M.B album cover as a pop icon who’s here to stay. Alongside the release of the single, Gwen announced the name of her album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like, which marks Gwen’s third album and a decade since her previous album, The Sweet Escape. She looks like she came straight from the “4 in the Morning” photoshoot on the album cover and as if she hasn’t aged a day from that day in 2007. On the single cover, she conveys Marilyn Monroe and Madonna influences as a retro blonde bombshell.
The song itself, for which Gwen will do the unprecedented action of releasing a live music video during the Grammys, does an excellent job in keeping current while still implementing everything that we love about Gwen such as the urban vibe and the “ooo”’s, very reminiscent to the title track of The Sweet Escape. Mattman & Robin are the producers of the song and are becoming the best new thing in pop music, having also produced (or helped produce) Selena Gomez’s “Same Old Love” and “Me & the Rhythm”, Tove Lo’s “Moments”, Adam Lambert’s “The Original High” and Taylor Swift’s “All You Had to Do Was Stay”. Gwen wrote the happy and upbeat song about her new boyfriend Blake Shelton, who brought her out of the dumps after her divorce with ex Gavin Rossdale, about whom Gwen wrote the emotional “Used to Love You”. The song cements Gwen’s revival, lyrics including expressing her great spontaneous love for Blake and falling in love being “a feeling I'm not used to” and “I was fine before I met you / I was broken but fine / I was lost and uncertain”. After having three kids and settling for an underwhelming relationship for years, Gwen never thought she would fall in love again like a happy-go-lucky schoolgirl at the age of 46, but anything proves to be possible. As excellent and powerful “Used to Love You” is, I’m glad to have the urban-disco sing-talk Gwen we’ve loved since the L.A.M.B era back, and more than anything, I’m glad to see her happy and releasing amazing music. Her older fans will embrace her from her “Don’t Speak” and “Hollaback Girl” eras, and she will gain new fans along the way - Gwen’s comeback is underway, and I absolutely can’t wait for the album. Ten years has just been too much time, but it has made us all appreciate Gwen and her music even more.