The media is buzzing over the new No Doubt article in Rolling Stone:
From NME:
No Doubt have said they are close to completing their forthcoming album – their first since 2001’s ‘Rock Steady’.
The band have teamed with Mark ‘Spike’ Stent – who has previously worked with Madonna – for their new record, which is expected to be wrapped up in two months.
They have been working on the record since 2008 but took a break after singer Gwen Stefani became pregnant. The band have spent the bulk of 2011 recording nine tracks at Stent’s Santa Monica studio.
“It’s so exciting to have a record coming out,” Stefani told Rolling Stone. “And we all want the same thing: for it to be modern and catchy and addictive. Once you make music that connects with people, it’s like you taste blood — you can’t go back.”
After recording two solo albums – 2004’s ‘Love. Angel. Music. Baby’ and 2006’s ‘The Sweet Escape’, Stefani has admitted it felt right to come back to the band.
“I had gone on my tortured journey of working with outside songwriters,” she said. “I would throw up if someone made me do that again.”
“Writing with other people is a learning experience,” bassist Tony Kanal added. “But when you come back, and you’re sitting in a room together, it feels like home.”
Tracks slated for inclusion on the record include ‘One More Summer’ and ‘Settle Down’.
From MSNBCelebrity:
Gwen Stefani has revealed that No Doubt new album is just two months off being finished.
It will be their sixth album together, and their first for 10 years, but Stefani admitted that she does not like it when people point out that fact.
“A lot of stuff happened during that time period,” she told Rolling Stone. “Marriages, babies and, for me, two records and two clothing lines. So if you really worked out the math, you’d be like, ‘Wow, you guys are going fast.'”
She devoted part of the band’s time apart to releasing her solo albums Love. ‘Angel. Music. Baby.’ and The Sweet Escape, but insisted that that kind of music came ‘from my girl side and theatrical side’, whereas with No Doubt, she is ‘heels off’.
The mother-of-two added that it felt great to be working and writing with the group again.
“I had gone on my tortured journey of working with outside songwriters,” she said. “I would throw up if someone made me do that again.
“It’s so exciting to have a record coming out.
“And we all want the same thing – for it to be modern and catchy and addictive. Once you make music that connects with people, it’s like you taste blood – you can’t go back.”
From Radio104.5:
No Doubt has been hard at work in the studio, working on a still-untitled sixth album which is roughly two months from completion, but they have finished several songs including a track titled “Settle Down” and “One More Summer”:
“Settle Down” happens to be a party-ready reggae blast featuring frontwoman Gwen Stefani’s toasting skills; “One More Summer” updates the band’s ska-pop sound with pounding dance beats, arena-size guitars and a beyond-catchy chorus — “One more summer/One more weekend/I’m your lover/You’re my weakness.” Drummer Adrian Young tells his bandmates he can’t wait to play the song live: “I might lose control and sh*t all over myself.”
Their not settling for filler songs either: “We would say, ‘OK, the B section isn’t good enough, let’s rewrite that,’ until we felt the song was great.” After writing through 2010, they had nine full songs (“Ten if we write the chorus for that last one,” says bassist Tony Kanal), and have spent 2011 recording them with producer Spike Stent.
“It’s so exciting to have a record coming out, and we all want the same thing: for it to be modern and catchy and addictive. Once you make music that connects with people, it’s like you taste blood — you can’t go back.” (via Rolling Stone)
From PopCrush:
Yes, it really has been a decade since So Cal’s ska/reggae influenced pop punkers No Doubt have released an album, a fact that causes singer Gwen Stefani to bristle when people remind her.
The blonde bombshell singer (and fashion mogul) likes to remind people that the No Doubters have filled their time with noble pursuits in the past 10 years, telling Rolling Stone that “marriages, babies and, for me, two records and two clothing lines. So if you really worked out the math, you’d be like, ‘Wow, you guys are going fast.’” Besides Stefani’s full plate, drummer Adrian Young performed with Maroon 5 and Scott Weiland, while other members went on to do production work. So it’s not like they were, you know, sitting by idly on their rumps while Stefani went wild with other endeavors.
No Doubt’s sixth album is about two months away from being finished and it is currently untitled. But the band did offer the mag a taste of a handful of songs with titles like ‘Settle Down’ and ‘One More Summer,’ which are reportedly true to form and represent No Doubt’s signature sound.
Stefani, who set the solo world ablaze with two albums (including the mega blockbuster ‘Love.Angel.Music.Baby,’ which yielded the anti-cheerleader anthem ‘Hollaback Girl’) is adamant about one thing. While her “girl side and theatrical side” informed the solo efforts, she’s back with No Doubt and the glamazon affirms that she’s now “heels off.” We love it when she rocks tri-color sneakers.
Here’s the timeline that No Doubt have been adhering to with Album Six: They started writing in 2008, when the Hollaback Girl was pregnant with her second son, but she felt creatively drained and had writer’s block. So, they toured in 2009. At the end of that year, they got together again to write, and it felt, well, right. “I had gone on my tortured journey of working with outside songwriters,” Stefani said. “I would throw up if someone made me do that again.”
Jeez, sounds like despite the massive success she achieved on the solo end, it was b-a-n-a-n-a-s for Stefani, and she feels good about the reconvene with her Orange County bros. They worked on the tunes through 2010 and have been recording them this year.
“It’s so exciting to have a record coming out,” Stefani said, clearly not feeling like she has to throw up anymore. “And we all want the same thing: For it to be modern and catchy and addictive. Once you make music that connects with people, it’s like you taste blood — you can’t go back.”
Blood is thicker than … Bananas!