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Truth (Gwen Stefani song)

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"Truth"
Song

"Truth" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Gwen Stefani from her third studio album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016). It was released on March 18, 2016, along with the rest of the album by Interscope Records. The track was written by Stefani, Justin Tranter, Julia Michaels, Mattias Larsson, and Robin Fredriksson. Its production was handled by solely by Swedish duo Mattman & Robin.

"Truth" serves as the album's titular track; musically, it is an electropop track, with a guitar hook. Lyrically, the song discusses the aftermath of a painful breakup. Several contemporary music critics speculated that the song, along with other material from the album, was inspired by Stefani’s romance with American singer and The Voice co-judge Blake Shelton. The track received generally mixed reviews from critics, who commended the track's lyrics, but some found it to be unmemorable.

Background and recording

Blake Shelton provided inspiration for Stefani during the writing process of "Truth".

In late 2014, Stefani began work on a third solo studio album, and enlisted high profiles musicians, such as Ryan Tedder, Benny Blanco, and Charli XCX.[1] After two of the producer tracks, "Baby Don't Lie" and "Spark the Fire" were critically and commercially unsuccessful, Stefani decided to scrap the entire project and "start fresh" with new collaborators.[2] Stefani was then approached by A&R President Aaron Bay-Schuck about the possibility of working with relatively new songwriters and producers, such as Justin Tranter and Julia Michaels.[3] After agreeing to work with them, Stefani began writing "deeply personal songs";[4] Interscope Records, Stefani's label, called the songs extremely "uncommercial".[5] "Truth"'s production was handled by Mattman & Robin, shortly after they completed their work on Stefani's single "Make Me Like You".[6]

"Truth", and a majority of the songs of This Is What the Truth Feels Like, were written about Stefani’s divorce from English musician Gavin Rossdale and new romance with Blake Shelton.[7] Stefani has stated that "Truth" and the album was a “breakup record”.[8] After starting her relationship with Shelton, Stefani stopped writing and recording songs about her divorce in favor of discussing more romantic and positive themes.[9] After experiencing writer's block during the release of "Baby Don't Lie" and "Spark the Fire", Stefani found that her new romance made writing easier; she claimed "I got 20 songs. I have a whole record in eight weeks, but I want to keep writing."[10] On February 12, 2016, This Is What the Truth Feels Like became available for pre-order on iTunes Store.[11] Nearly a month later, "Truth" became available for purchase on March 18, along with the rest of the album.[12][13]

Composition

"Truth" was written by Stefani, Justin Tranter, Julia Michaels, Mattias Larsson, and Robin Fredriksson; production of the track was handled by Swedish songwriting duo Mattman & Robin.[14] Musically, "Truth" is an electropop track with a guitar hook, spanning three minutes and thirty-four seconds.[15] Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times stated that the track's genre is "gently bubbling electropop".[16] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic described the song, along with "Where Would I Be?" and "Make Me Like You", as "glossy adult pop" and called Stefani "free, never hustling to be hip nor settling into a role as an elder stateswoman."[14]

Sarah Rodman, writing for The Boston Globe, claimed that "Blake Shelton provided the inspiration" for the track, later stating that "Truth" is about Stefani's "giddy new-crush enthusiasm".[17] Sal Cinquemani from Slant found the lyrics "I can love whoever I want / Say whatever I want / Do whatever I want" to serve as "playful puns".[18] Kitty Empire of The Guardian said that along with "Used to Love You", "Truth" is a "truth-telling" song.[19] In a differing opinion, Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic found that Stefani "acknowledges that everyone is going to write off her new squeeze as a rebound", later calling it "a canny move, though somewhat ruined by a misplaced hint of raunch in the line when she commands that squeeze to 'rebound all over me'".[20]

Critical reception

"Truth" received generally mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. David Watt of All Noise called "Truth" a "stand-out song" and praised it for being "a crispy rhythmic track that will tell you the a lot of truths that [Stefani] has been trying to say in this album."[21] Krystal Scanlon of Gigwise appreciated "Truth", stating that it "tells her side of her breakup with Rossdale in the most truthful way possible", further praising that the track "examine[s] the emotional scars she was left with after her heartbreak."[22] In a more mixed review, Adam Kivel from Consequence of Sound found "Truth" to be "as cloying as it gets", but later added that "it sounds to be coming from a genuine place."[23] However, some critics found "Truth" to be easily unmemorable; Theon Weber of Spin thought that the track positively displayed Stefani's synthpop era, but found "Truth" to "evaporate in real time".[24]

Credits and personnel

Management
Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of This Is What the Truth Feels Like[25]

References

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External links

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