Early Winter

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For the camping equipment company, see Early Winters.

Template:CurrentSingles

"Early Winter"
Song

"Early Winter" is a pop rock ballad written by Tim Rice-Oxley (pianist for British band Keane) and Gwen Stefani for Stefani's second album The Sweet Escape (2006). The song received positive reviews from music critics. According to Billboard, it was released as the fifth single from the album. The music video and radio edit of the song cuts a full minute off.

Background and writing

Stefani performing "Early Winter" on tour.

Stefani called Rice-Oxley the night before she was to work with him in the studio and told him that she wanted a ballad in the vein of Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face", Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly with His Song", and Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time". Stefani, pleased with the song, avoided making changes to it after Rice-Oxley played it for her. She later rewrote part of it before recording the song. The song's lyrics describe lovers approaching the end of a relationship.[2]

Critical reception

"Early Winter" received positive reviews from music critics. Pitchfork Media stated that the song "proves that Stefani still has the ability to elevate an otherwise ordinary rock song to another level."[3] The Guardian referred to it as stylish,[4] and The New York Times called it one of the album's most tuneful tracks.[5] PopMatters noted it as a highlight of the album and compared the song's vulnerability to No Doubt's "Don't Speak".[6] The NME characterized it as "one of the few potential hits" from The Sweet Escape.[7] Entertainment Weekly described it as a "majestic power ballad" on which Stefani's "Orange County-girl voice doesn't seem genuinely sad."[8] Slant Magazine compared "Early Winter" to the songs that Stefani wrote with No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal for the album and stated that it sounded "less forced and much less self-conscious" than other songs.[9] John Murphy of MusicOHM called the song's lyrics as the best written by her and calls the song "palatable".[10]

Music video

Music video will be premiered November 15 2007 on Yahoo! Music.[11]

Charts

The song debuted at the Bulgarian Top 40 chart at number 39, and rose to number 28 the following week.

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Bulgaria top 40[12] 28

References

  1. ^ "Discography - Gwen Stefani - Early Winter". Billboard. 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
  2. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer. It's not available yet."Baby On Board! Gwen Stefani's Son Joins Her On LP, Spring Tour". MTV News. December 4, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  3. ^ Pytlik, Mark. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". Pitchfork Media. December 7, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Caroline. "Gwen Stefani, The Sweet Escape". The Guardian. December 1, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  5. ^ Pareles, Jon. "". The New York Times. December 4, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  6. ^ Huff, Quentin B. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". PopMatters. December 14, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  7. ^ Miller, Alex. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". NME. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  8. ^ Michel, Sia. "Sweet Escape | Music Review". Entertainment Weekly. December 1, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  9. ^ Cinquemani, Sal. "Music Review: Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". Slant Magazine. 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  10. ^ MusicOHM.com Retrieved September 4, 2007
  11. ^ "Yahoo! Music video premieres" Yahoo! Music Retrieved November 14, 2007
  12. ^ "Early Winter Chart positions" α charts.com Retrieved November 11, 2007

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Early_Winter&oldid=171612994"