Entertainment

New Music From Gwen Stefani Is Almost Here

by Alex Kritselis

Listen up, No Doubt fanatics: A new Gwen Stefani song called "Make Me Like You" is reportedly coming soon. According to the All Access Music Group website, the follow-up to the 46-year-old singer's last single, "Used to Love You," will hit the airwaves on Tues., Feb. 16 — just one day after the 2016 Grammy Award ceremony. Wait a minute, does that mean Stefani might premiere "Make Me Like You" at the Grammys? It certainly seems like the 46-year-old artist has something special planned for music's biggest night!

At the end of January, Hollywood Life reported that a choreographer named Tricia Miranda shared a picture of Stefani and a group of dancers (which has since been deleted) on Instagram with the hashtags "#gwenstefaniauditions" and "#grammys." How suspicious! Definitely keep your eyes and ears open for further developments. Here's everything we know about "Make Me Like You" so far:

According to the Warner/Chappell music database, Stefani worked on "Make Me Like You" with in-demand songwriters Justin Tranter and Julia Michaels, and up-and-coming production duo Mattman & Robin. Tranter, Michaels, and Mattman & Robin recently lent their musical talents to Selena Gomez's "Hands to Myself," which currently sits at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Clearly, the four musicians know a thing or two about creating hits! But can they help re-establish Stefani as one of pop music's biggest solo stars? That remains to be seen.

"Used to Love You" was warmly received by critics when it debuted in October 2015, but it only managed to reach No. 52 on the Hot 100. However, if you ask me, the powerful tune is a remarkable improvement over "Baby Don't Lie," the lackluster comeback single Stefani put out a year earlier.

Fortunately, the "Hollaback Girl" hit-maker revealed to Entertainment Weekly shortly after the premiere of "Used to Love You" that she'd scrapped the material she'd previously recorded for her long-awaited third LP and started over:

... I had just given birth and had just started on The Voice and felt like I should do something in music, but what was I going to do? There wasn't enough time. So I tried to make a record where I was just kind of involved — which is how a lot of people do it, but it didn't work for me.

Apparently, a burst of creative inspiration allowed Stefani to write 20 songs in eight weeks — "enough for probably two albums," as she told Beats 1's Zane Lowe during a November 2015 interview. Whoa. It sounds like things have gotten back on track.

Stefani has been hard at work in the studio recently with big names like Stargate (above) putting the finishing touches on her upcoming project, which is rumored to arrive sometime near the beginning of 2016. Hopefully, more details will be announced within the next few weeks.