THE WAIT IS OVER: NO DOUBT RELEASES "SETTLE DOWN"

My musical tastes have evolved quite a bit over the years.

I grew up listening to a few genres of music. My mom loved country music, so that's what we listened to in the car on the way to school. My parents would always listen to oldies when we went on long road trips. And I would often dance around the living room to classical music during my short-lived career as a ballerina (I was only 6 years old when I hung up my slippers for good). 

In 5th grade all that was eclipsed by pop music. I quickly learned about the plethora of boy bands from my classmates. My first CD was Britney Spears' first album. I would listen to it over and over and over. But I didn't really start forming my own musical tastes until about 7th grade.

In 7th grade I heard of the band No Doubt. While many of my peers were drooling over Good Charlotte and Simple Plan (both of whose music I still can't stand), I was listening to a band that formed before I was even born! I remember putting a sticker of the band on my binder and thinking I was so rad. And that was pretty much how it all began: No Doubt had become my favorite band ever.

My music tastes have continued evolving. Throughout the first half of high school, I went through an R&B phase, a hip hop phase, a 90s dance music phase (don't ask!)... only to learn of a thing called "Top 40," which pretty much encompasses all music genres with fun and popular beats. Eventually, with the dawn of the Myspace era, I started to use the site to search for indie artists, with sweet melodies and dramatic lyrics. (I liked Adele and Ingrid Michaelson before they were famous!) I guess I was sorta a music hipster before I ever heard of such a thing, haha.

However, towards the end of high school Gwen Stefani went solo, reaffirming my absolute love of all things No Doubt, even if it was just Gwen. When my sister surprised me senior year with concert tickets, I was super excited! My first real concert! Gwen is not only my favorite vocalist, she is also my favorite fashion icon and even inspired me to bleach my hair platinum blonde a week before I graduated high school. I've been waiting since then for more No Doubt music and was surprised (again!) by my sister with tickets to see them in concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater back in the summer of 2009.

It's taken several years for the band to complete their comeback album Push and Shove and today they released the first single from the album. "Settle Down" starts with a slow melodic intro, only to transition into an upbeat anthem filled with dozens of fun hooks and a punchy chorus with that signature No Doubt sound. 

Below is the video... it just debuted about 45 minutes ago. And I'm already OBSESSED! I cannot wait for September 25th, when the long awaited new album is released! And hopefully a new tour will be announced soon, so my sister can buy me tickets... again ;)