When Gwen Stefani announced her upcoming fifth solo album last week, fans quickly started theorizing that the new music could be headed in a country direction.
It’s hard to blame them: There are a lot of clues suggesting that Stefani might be interested in pursuing the country genre.
The cover art for her new album, Bouquet, certainly looks like it could be a country record, especially since she’s wearing a cream-colored cowboy hat in the photo. Dig deeper and you’ll see some Nashville influence in the credits for Bouquet, too.
The project was recorded in Music City by hit producer Scott Hendricks, who has worked with country greats like Alan Jackson, Trace Adkins, Faith Hill and, of course, Stefani’s country superstar husband Blake Shelton.
Speaking of Shelton, he’s another reason why Stefani might be interested in going country: Not just because they’ve been living together for several years, or because Stefani’s been spending time in Shelton’s home state of Oklahoma, but because they’ve collaborated a handful of times, with marked success.
Two duets, “Happy Anywhere” and “Nobody But You” have topped the country charts, and led to Stefani making her Grand Ole Opry debut. As one-half of a singing duo with Shelton, she’s already found success in country music, so it would make sense that she would want to give the genre a shot solo, too.
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Still, in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Stefani says that Bouquet will not be getting the country treatment.
“It’s not a country record,” she states.
If there’s any country influence here, it’s Stefani’s commitment to authentic storytelling and getting back to her roots.
“It’s all the stuff I listened to in the station wagon on the way to church,” the singer goes on to say. “Yacht rock, though it wasn’t called yacht rock then. The music I listen to now, I wanted this album to reflect that.”
Though Stefani isn’t going country, the jury’s still out on her 16-year-old son Zuma. Zuma recently made his musical debut at Shelton’s Oklahoma Ole Red location, wearing jeans and a cowboy hat as he stepped onstage to cover Zach Bryan‘s “Oklahoma Smokeshow.”
What Else Can Fans Expect From Gwen Stefani’s Bouquet Album?
Bouquet has a prominent flower theme — her Blake Shelton duet, “Purple Irises,” finds a home on the track list, along with other floral titles like “Marigolds,” “Late to Bloom,” “Empty Vase” and a title track. Flowers and blooming have been central motifs in Stefani’s music for years, and more recently, she and Shelton have shared their growing gardening hobby with fans quite a bit.
When she announced the new album, Stefani also released one of its songs, “Somebody Else’s,” which describes feeling euphoric freedom after letting go of a toxic ex.
Bouquet is due out on Nov. 15.
Blake Shelton + Gwen Stefani: A Timeline of Their Love
From an unlikely, cross-genre pairing to one of country music’s hottest “it” couples, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani have been on quite the journey together since they first met back in 2014 on the set of The Voice. Here is a look back at their fairy tale love story in pictures.