Gwen Stefani: 'Early Winter'

'The Sweet Escape' LP

No, your eyes do not deceive you: Gwen Stefani has decided to release a fifth single from her Sweet Escape album. Wait… come back! Against all odds, 'Early Winter', a co-write with Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley, is probably the best one yet. Why? Because, like all Stefani's most likeable songs, it sounds like a forgotten classic from an eighties movie soundtrack.

A sleek, surging soft rock ballad, full of longing, heartache and regret, it's the most affecting moment of Stefani's solo career to date. "I always was one for crying," she purrs, sounding genuinely heartbroken. "I always was one for tears." Sit yourself by a frosty window; pop 'Early Winter' onto the CD player, and allow your thoughts to drift towards the one that got away. There, it's not just Gwen who likes a sob, is it?