This Brand Of "Truth" Is Easy To Hear

From her early days as front woman of No Doubt to her status as a household name after going solo, Gwen Stefani has built her career on unique genre-hopping without ever compromising the honesty of her message. "This Is What The Truth Feels Like" -- her first solo album since 2006's "The Sweet Escape" and No Doubt's 2012 comeback effort "Push And Shove" -- was inspired by the end of her longtime marriage. This album is what artistic and emotional truth sound like when they're set to music; not since Madonna's 1989 song "Till Death Do Us Part" have I heard such deceptively cheerful tunes about the dissolution of love. There's nothing wrong with wallowing in the depths of a sad or angry break-up album, but Stefani wisely and cleverly opts for upbeat songs that express heartbreak and embrace starting over to make them just as relatable... if not more so through their empowerment.

Opening track "Misery" and closing track "Rare" bookend the throwback sounds of the album by twirling with buoyant synth-pop that would have felt right at home in the late '80s. "Where Would I Be?" has an unusual but catchy fusion of reggae and disco, while current single "Make Me Like You" gloriously recaptures the vintage, New Wave roller-rink anthems that clearly influenced Stefani's youthful musical development. Her worlds of style and substance collide on "Red Flag," a boisterous, in-your-face track that smoothly alternates between Stefani's airy reflections and her throaty demands for transparency. "Naughty" is especially notable for unearthing the ska/swing swagger and vibrato that defined her early sound, which hasn't really been heard since the retro redux of "Bathwater" from No Doubt's 2000 album "Return Of Saturn." Each of these new tracks has a genuine undercurrent that grounds the pop-music sensibilities in real emotion, rather than simply existing as fluffy album filler between the radio singles.

Ironically, lead single "Used To Love You" is the least impactful track on the album; in addition to sounding the most like her previous solo work, it's also the one song that's too on-point and lyrically obvious. This album earns its stripes when Stefani's words are deliberately veiled to put these common experiences into thoughts that we hadn't considered describing that way before. The double meaning of "Asking 4 It" finds Stefani confronting a suitor with her baggage by making sure he knows that what he's asking for is more than just the surface. Meanwhile, much of "Me Without You" is equally a play on words about not having someone else versus being true to yourself, sublimating tired complaints with her trademark confidence.

"This Is What The Truth Feels Like" exists because Stefani scrapped the long-delayed album she was working on before her divorce, openly admitting that the songs didn't feel authentic enough about where she was in her life. Whether or not those other tracks will ever see the light of day remains to be seen, but for now, Stefani should feel proud that she placed integrity before the industry.