The Sunday Mail (Jan. 27th 2002)
Fresh From Jamaica
It's a freezing night in Stockholm but No Doubt's bass player Tony Kanal doesn't appear to be feeling the chill.
"We just arrived in Sweden last night and we're only here for a few more hours then it's off to Germany,'' he says.
"A different place every day. But things are amazing.
"We're out launching the new album (Rock Steady) in Europe.
"We're really proud of the record so it's good to be out here talking about it.''
It would be fair to say that US-based No Doubt are on a bit of a roll, and a juicy one at that.
After the recent unexpected one-off success of singer Gwen Stefani's huge hit supporting Eve on the catchy ditty Let Me Blow Your Mind, No Doubt's fifth album has kicked in strongly on the wings of its first hit, Hey Baby, which sat at No. 5 on last week's singles charts.
Kanal says the band "wanted to make a record we could dance to''.
"We wanted to go to clubs and dance to it -- our own music.''
As all members of the band had been avidly listening to Jamaican dancehall, it loomed large in creative proceedings.
(The new British musical style evolves from reggae and ska and has become popular on the British club circuit.)
"With all the dancehall we'd been listening to, it was only natural that some of that rhythm would seep into our new songs,'' singer Stefani says.
"We ended up going to Jamaica without really knowing exactly what we'd find when we got there.
"That was the whole plan from the beginning . . . not to have a plan.''
For this often eccentric quartet, Rock Steady is a worthy return to commercial form after the relative sales disappointment of Return to Saturn, which had followed the squillion-selling Tragic Kingdom.
"Let me set it up for you, and how we got to this current place,'' says the 31-year-old, British-raised Kanal.
"When we did Tragic Kingdom we were on the road promoting it for 27 months. It was a beautiful time -- the record was huge (12 million copies) -- but at the same time it was a very exhausting tour.
"We went around the world quite a few times.
"When we returned from all of that -- and even though we didn't want to admit it to ourselves -- there was a lot of pressure on us, and from us, to effectively follow up Tragic Kingdom.
"We wanted to show people that we could improve as songwriters and as musicians, and also we wanted to prove to ourselves that we deserved success.
"In short, making Return to Saturn was a very laboured process and it took two full years.
"We rewrote songs, re-recorded stuff and it all went on much longer than we would have anticipated.
"We took it very, very seriously at the time. It was a big accomplishment when we finished the record.
"When we went out on the road with Return to Saturn it was a much shorter tour, only nine months. It was much more fun, much more spaced out and we were really enjoying ourselves.
"After being in a band for 14 years, and to still have that much fun, it was a very beautiful thing.
"We had parties every night. And all that set us up to be in the right space to make Rock Steady. All the pressure was off, it wasn't about proving anything to anybody any more.''
They were in the right space to create something fresh. Among the contributors to the songs and performance are legendary producers Sly and Robbie, dancehall duo Steely & Clevie, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, Madonna producer William Orbit, Prince and former Cars member Ric Ocasek.
They've managed to create an album which combines the wistful charm of Stefani and her freeflowing cohorts with the incendiary dancehall rhythms.
The band kicks off an extensive North American tour in March, but has no commitments scheduled from May.
Stefani and singer Gavin Rossdale of Bush announced their marriage plans over the festive season.
Could it be that she may be undertaking some personal agendas in that period? We suspect so.
Although Rock Steady is unlikely to outstrip the monumental sales of Tragic Kingdom, it appears to have opened the door to a new era for No Doubt.