The Toronto Star (Nov. 30th 2006)
Stefani has it all, baby
Glam singer travelling in style with her wee son, new album in tow
Gwen Stefani seemed model perfect.
Seated in a posh hotel suite yesterday during a promotional visit for her second solo album, The Sweet Escape, which comes out Tuesday, the pop songstress evoked nightclub glamour platinum wig, micro mini and precipitous heels rounded out a retro look she designated "coke whore (circa Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface) and Julie Andrews."
However, babbling away in a nearby bedroom was infant son Kingston, whose feeding contributed to the interview's hour delay and her imperceptibly off-kilter profile.
"I'm like totally lopsided right now, because he only wanted to have one little bit," said the first-time mother, pointing to her substantial bosom.
Then, the married 37-year-old California native with homes in London and L.A. shrugged off this momentary blip in her admittedly charmed life.
"I'm so lucky, I can have my baby and go with him everywhere. And my job is not 'The Job.' It's super fun. My best friends (stylist, makeup artist) come over to my hotel room, we have breakfast, and then we do hair and makeup and I play dress up.
She said the flight to Toronto was "the first time Kingston was like 'I'm 6 months old and I've got an attitude and I'm going to scream on the plane.' Last night was a really good one, because he slept four hours in a row. My theory is that nursing gives you superhuman powers. How else could I be doing all this when I'm usually a sleepaholic?"
Chatty and upbeat, Stefani didn't appear sleep-deprived. And given her successful fashion label (L.A.M.B.) and 2004's seven- million-selling Love.Angel.Music.Baby that spawned the smash hit "Hollaback Girl" and referenced her own biological clock, she could afford a long maternity leave. Instead she'll begin a world tour in April (at Air Canada Centre May 30) and is talking about a return to the studio with ska pop band No Doubt.
"I feel like I have to seize the moment. I know how lucky I am and I want to just do it now while I can. When Kingston starts school, he's not going to be able to come on tour. I know the clock is ticking, as it was on my last record."
Stefani had a head start on The Sweet Escape with stockpiled songs, including the single "Wind It Up," which samples "The Lonely Goatherd" from The Sound of Music.
"The Sound of Music's been a huge inspiration from the first time I saw it as a little girl. My first time ever onstage, I had the dress that Maria (Julie Andrews) wears when she is going to see the children for the first time. I've been threatening to put it to a beat for years. There are a lot of similarities between me and Maria, actually Catholic girl, likes to sew, likes to sing ..."
Her eclectic, melodic new album, with input from veteran hitmakers such as The Neptunes and Linda Perry, as well as newcomer Akon, had a quick turn-around but wasn't stressful, Stefani said.
"I wanted to make it really easy on myself, so I didn't start out with any definite idea of what kind of record I wanted to write. I think I slipped back into my own ways of writing, a little more personal, not super intensely, but more than the first record, which was very concept-driven. Then, I had a clear idea for an '80s dance- inspired record that was very sugary and very surface.
"I wrote a lot of this record in the last 21/2 months - it's like right out of the oven. A lot of the No Doubt records were really laboured over.... I tried not to take it too seriously this time.
"I think Kingston brought that kind of balance to me, because I'd be in the studio singing a lyric in the booth, with earphones on, and this superhero thing would be happening - I could hear him crying! Then I had to go out and feed him. It makes everything (else) not so precious."