Aural: The Sweeter Escape

Gwen Stefani
The Sweet Escape

While L.A.M.B suffered from massive disarray in terms of musical direction, The Sweet Escape finds Gwen Stefani more focused, the disc is split between the more hip-hop urban stuff and the more No Doubt-ish rock-pop tunes.

First single Wind It Up which samples Rodgers' and Hammerstein's Overture And Preludium from The Sound of Music finds her and Pharrell Williams at work again. More along the lines of Hollaback Girl, it might have sounded like a mish mash of one too many samples but a few listens later, you'll find yourself humming along. The rest of the more upbeat urban tracks find Stefani working with Akon on the title track (which is really a funky song where Akon actually doesn't rap but sings) and Pharrell guesting on Yummy.

The best tracks here are the ones that you might probably find on a No Doubt album. The fabulous yet heartaching Early Winter has Tim Rice-Oxley of Keane co-writing. Stefani oozes sensuality on 4 In The Morning co-written with Tony Kanal, again talking about the lonesome wait for a strayed lover. The new wave synth track, Wonderful Life (co-penned with Linda Perry) about an ex-high school boyfriend who recently passed away closes the album perfectly with Martin Gore of Depeche Mode on guitars.

Any way she works it, Stefani is sure to find an audience. (B+)