The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani

Joseph Smith | 17 January 2007

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Hip hop beats from uber-producers The Neptunes mixed with yodelling samples from The Sound of Music? That’s what you get with a Gwen Stefani album.

The history

Gwen Stefani has gone from strength to strength as a recording artist. She received considerable attention as lead singer of ska band No Doubt in the 90s. She made the transition to pop singer in her collaboration with rap star Eve on the Grammy award winning single Let Me Blow Ya Mind

Stefani released her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004 which topped charts worldwide including several weeks at number one in Australia. The success confirmed Stefani’s status as a fully fledged pop idol.

Stefani has appeared on countless magazine covers in the meantime and is as famous for her physical appearance as she is for her chart hits like What You Waiting For? and Hollaback Girl.

But two years on, with the release of her second album The Sweet Escape, Stefani is once again going to be judged on her music.

The girl

Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes, whose stamp can be seen on many of the hip hop, rap and R&B hits over the past five years has returned to work with Stefani and his unique sounds are all over album opener and current chart topper Wind it Up. The song also includes samples – yes, even yodelling – from The Lonely Goatherd from the film The Sound of Music.

The Sound of Music references continue in Orange County Girl, an autobiographical song where Stefani reflects on her heightened fame.

‘These are a few of my favorite things
Still rollin’ cause The Sound Of Music
I’m just an Orange County girl living in extraordinary world’

Stefani’s lyrics suggest that despite living the life of a famous recording artist, she is essentially the same person she has always been. This seems to be a common theme in the lyrics of a lot of pop and hip hop artists. They constantly remind listeners that despite receiving more than their fair share of the trappings and attention of this world, it doesn’t really change them.

Is this true? It’s almost clichéd now to hear about the actor, sports star or businessperson who still feels a huge emptiness in their life despite making it to the top of their respective field. If you were insecure before, success and fame can just make you more insecure in front of a larger group of people (except your dressed better).

Not being changed by wealth or status can be either a good or a bad thing. It’s good if wealth and status don’t corrupt a person as they receive them. Christians who are blessed with fame and fortune in this world must be careful to not let these blessings make them lose sight of the God who gives them.

One can’t deny that with great power comes great responsibility. Leaders and public figures have added expectations to be role models. The rich have an obligation to use their wealth to assist those in need around them.

Jesus Christ’s words recorded in the Gospel of Luke promote these expectations: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked”.

Whether football players or rock stars should be role models is another question worth debating. Nonetheless, they do receive media attention and by proxy become role models for some people. They do have access to funds that most of us could only dream of. If this doesn’t cause some change in how the celebrity in question operates, then they haven’t fully grasped the significance of their status and opportunities.

The music

A lot of Stefani’s tracks are upbeat pop songs with catchy cheerleader-like choruses. The pop production is top notch and Stefani matches the creativity of L.A.M.B.. She also continues to pepper her choruses with salty language (swearing) so be warned. It is interesting and disappointing to see that words that were once primarily the domain of gangster rap and heavy metal have worked their way into the lexicon of mainstream pop.

Stefani’s subject matter is also covering one of modern pop’s most common topics – sexual encounters.

In Yummy, Stefani invites a one night stand: ‘Wanna spend the night? Don’t bring pajamas, man, there’s so much heat beneath these clothes’. Yet in the next track Fluorescent, she is regretting a one night stand: ‘I must have lost my mind, I can’t believe you’re still inside my bed.’ You can make your own conclusions about the irony.

Lyrics from other songs cover the clichéd ground of dealing with break-ups, holding onto love and lamenting lost love.

The Sweet Escape is a pleasant pop album with heavy hip hop and R&B influences that is sure to keep Stefani at the top of the pop game. The lyrics are rarely surprising but occasionally shocking.

Stefani may want us to believe she is the same old simple girl from the OC, but with her airbrushed model poses adorning the accompanying booklet, her million dollar budget music videos and the plethora of magazine covers – I don’t know if I’m convinced.