The big No Doubt reunion didn’t exactly blow up the collective skirt of the music world, so frontwoman Gwen Stefani is stepping back into her “Hollaback Girl” zone. She’s back with a new single, “Baby Don’t Lie”, her first solo song since the release of 2006’s “The Sweet Escape” and the first taste off her upcoming solo album.
Unfortunately, the song sounds like Shakira being fed into a woodchipper over a painfully lazy pop track. “Baby Don’t Lie” is terrible on such an offensively obvious trendbait level that it almost feels like a joke. “Baby don’t, baby don’t, baby don’t lie, I don’t wanna cry no longer/ Baby don’t, baby don’t, baby don’t lie, I’ma need a love that’s stronger,” she sings in the chorus with an obnoxious toddler voice and some obvious cadence/inflection “inspiration” from Shakira.
Penned by Stefani along with hitmakers Benny Blanco and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, the song’s accompanying music video has been shot by director Sophie Muller, who has done work with No Doubt’s visuals including “Cool”, “Wind It Up” and “Don’t Speak”.
“Baby Don’t Lie” is expected to appear on Stefani’s upcoming solo album, which she has been working on with longtime collaborator and fellow “The Voice” coach Pharrell Williams. The mind reels at the thought of the orgy of exposure and money negotiations among NBC and Interscope brass as they angle to maximize the force-feeding process exposure for Gwen’s inevitable new hit.
And you can bet your ass the track will be played on “The Voice,” complete with breathless commercial promotion for two weeks in the run-up.
