Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Ancient Greeks once lay a garland of flowers around the victor, proclaiming them to be the best in their field, the laurels of the spoils of war, of games, of achievement in all things that make us human, there was no greater accolade than receiving the love of a nation for your attainment in the realm of the human spirit.

The Bouquet handed to us is one of appreciation, it is the worth of ourselves seen through the eyes of another, and after seven years away from the limelight, Gwen Stefani returns perhaps to a more emotionally fulfilling and resounding part of her life as she releases an album not created for excess or the wishes of the dance floor, but one of unquestionable reflection and deep developing thought designed to capture and illuminate the artist as she inhabits a new era of her life.

Occasionally you look closer at the album’s credits more than normal, an intrigue or fascination asks of you to understand the creative force, and whilst it could always be argued that the more writers an album has the less personal it be seen, there is something alluring deeply embedded within the structure of Bouquet that gives the listener a resonance of a time when glamour of the golden age of cinema was noble, principled, and sporting an edge of mystery and clandestine observance.

With the likes of Fred Ball, Madison Love, Henry Walter, Nick Rubio, and the enthralling Diane Warren, all contributing to the overall charm and fluid nature of the album, Ms. Stefani tackles tracks such as the opener Somebody Else’s, Empty Vase, Swallow My Tears, Marigolds, Late To Bloom, and the sentiment behind the collaboration with her husband Blake Shelton in the impressive Purple Irises, the music on offer feels intense but delicate, a groove that once may have seemed out of place but in this new era is treasured as one would prize the delight of rediscovery and revival.

Bouquet is an album of immersive love and admission, the passing of one genre and insight giving way to a more heartfelt and genuine approach from a woman embracing a different way of life.

Ian D. Hall