Gwen Stefani gives herself her flowers on ‘Bouquet’

Gwen Stefani’s voice burns white-hot at the center of any project she’s involved with, whether it’s the slightly dignified chorus of No Doubt’s neo-power ballad “Don’t Speak” or leading girl-power cheers on her peppy solo cut “Hollaback Girl.” Her still agile mezzo-soprano is the main attraction on her fifth solo album and first since 2016’s This is how the truth feels which she told Rolling Stone in September “midst mit mit hell” was published. After what she said was “eight years of recovery, eight years of transition” — which included her marriage to country crossover king and dude The voice coach Blake Shelton in 2021 – she’s released Bouquetan aggressively pleasant collection that continues the ex-SoCal punk’s rebranding as a down-home country girl.

Not that she’s completely ditched her Doc Martens for cowboy boots. “Somebody Else’s,” the jittery cut that kicks off the album, is fueled by anger and regret, with Stefani telling an ex that she’s thrilled he’s moved on—a denial of her tumultuous past that creates the rosier scenarios that follow. The opener is a highlight of an album that tries to split the difference between Stefani’s pit-ready past and country-wife present. “Pretty,” a slide-guitar-accented ballad in which Stefani gathers her regrets before revealing that she “never felt pretty until you loved me,” is another highlight, Stefani’s voice almost booming as she relives the shock over again being worshiped by another.

Bouquet is filled with floral imagery: the fitting title track for the anniversary party is filled with sunflowers and roses; the road trip playlist-made “Marigolds” turns its titular flowers into a marriage bed; “Empty Vase” finds Stefani flirtatiously bowed in gratitude, a nice counterpoint to the slide guitar that signifies her darker past; and “Purple Irises,” a sparkling duet with Shelton, uses its flowers to signify mutual contentment. (There’s even a cut called “Late to Bloom,” a glossy country-pop-punk tune that revels in finding love later in life.) Stefani’s slide toward her garden of contentment is enjoyable enough, if a bit dull when it inhaled at once.