It’s always intriguing when the lead vocalist from a popular band decides to go solo. In 1985 Sting famously split from British trio The Police to pursue a more pop/rock sound and found even greater success as a solo artist. In between albums for Journey, Steve Perry released his successful Street Talk LP in 1984, but his solo work never strayed too far from the rock sound of his home band. And Justin Timberlake and Harry Styles managed to carve out singular careers from their teenage boy band origins.
Gwen Stefani was the face of the popular ska/alt-rock band No Doubt, and it was just a matter of time before she pursued the solo route. Through the band’s five albums and dozens of hit singles, Stefani became a fashion icon, aided by her blonde baby doll looks. In 2004 the famous frontwoman finally took the plunge and released “Love. Angel. Music. Baby�? to great acclaim. The album produced six hit singles and proved that Stefani would be just fine without her bandmates.
The LP, which uses the “L.A.M.B�? acronym, saw Stefani experimenting with a more pop/dance sound, inspired by many of her 80’s era idols like Depeche Mode and Madonna. My favorite track is the mid-tempo Cool, a song that explores the complicated emotions of meeting an ex-lover only to discover they’ve happily moved on to someone better. It’s probably the most “No Doubt�? sounding single on the album, but with a new wave-style gloss.
Stefani, already a music video veteran, teamed with London-based director and longtime No Doubt collaborator Sophie Muller to helm the clip. Filmed in Lake Como, Italy, the gorgeously shot Cool closely aligns with the song’s theme and lyrics. Stefani plays a wealthy socialite, nervously meeting her ex-boyfriend and his new fiancée. As she and her past beau lock eyes, the video flashbacks to the couple enjoying a sexy summer fling in the hills of Italy, but soon realize that their romance wasn’t built to last. The video even features the lustrously blonde Stefani sporting a rare brunette look for the flashback sequences.
As a side note, I wonder why Stefani didn’t do more formal acting, as her performance in Cool is unusually strong. With subtle gestures and body language, Stefani expresses a range of complex emotions without uttering a word of dialogue. She briefly dipped her toe in the feature film world when Martin Scorsese cast her in his 2004 Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator. Playing silver screen legend Jean Harlow opposite Leonardo DiCaprio’s Howard Hughes, Stefani bears an uncanny resemblance to the platinum-blonde starlet. But her role is brief, amounting to a 5-minute cameo, not nearly enough screen time to show any acting potential.
Gwen Stefani would go on to a successful solo career in the mid-2000s, releasing three albums and a string of hit songs. In 2012, No Doubt briefly reunited for Push and Shove, but the LP came and went without much fanfare. These days Stefani is semi-retired, preparing to marry country superstar and “The Voice�? coach Blake Shelton. But her Cool music video is an excellent time capsule of the future Ms. Shelton in her solo career prime.
Check out the video below and let me know your thoughts in the comments section.