Gwen Stefani Featuring Akon - The Sweet Escape

February 18, 2016 Critic Jonni 1 Comments

As of yesterday, I realised I had screwed myself over as none of the five artists I had reviewed in the past week had a music video older than 2011. Thursdays are always my revisits, where I review a music video that is more than five years old, from one of the artists I have reviewed in the week. Therefore I had to review a music video from an artist who has been in the music industry for some time. Gwen Stefani's new song popped up "Make Me Like You", and I hadn't seen the music video yet, so I chose that one, and hence why she has become my revisit today. Gwen Stefani is stuck in a golden jail, as she tries to tempt the dog to give her the key to let her our, she turns herself into Repunzel and escapes.

Gwen Stefani, if you don't already know, is attempting a comeback in the music industry; top 10 hits used to be easy for her ten years ago, but now it's quite the struggle. She reformed with her band No Doubt in 2012 for one album, before going back on hiatus. Gwen Stefani is attempting to continue her solo career, but it looks like she is struggling, is she a singer we're all done with? Does she belong in the past? Are her new songs not current enough? They definitely aren't hit songs she's been releasing. Gwen Stefani is definitely stuck in the past, and she needs to come across a banging song some time soon, or she won't be furthering her career. This song is her biggest hit in the UK so far, it hit number two in 2007. The song was written by Gwen Stefani, Aliaune Thaim and Giorgio Tuinfort. The middle songwriter is Akon, who features on this single. He has had a string of hits and have dipped in and out of charts across the world in the last few years, he has managed to stay current, he can easily get a hit single if he needs another one.

Directed by Joseph Kahn, whose name keeps popping up again and again. It features Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Girls, who appeared often in her music videos and stage performances. The Harajuku Girls consist of Maya Chino, Jennifer Kita, Rino Nakasone and Mayuko Kitayama.

A lot is going on in this video, there's reference to not being able to escape from yourself, which is the jail. The penthouse suite is also another jail as she needs to be rescued by the Harajuku Girls. They meet Akon in the car park where they are pursued by two more Harajuku Girls who put her back in the golden prison.

It's a quirky narrative, a typical word used for Gwen Stefani, it's not always easy to understand what is going on and her choice of outfits usually only work for her, and no one else.

She out performs herself again and again, it's obvious she cares about this song and she does a good job of it. Let's all be honest, if we ever saw her live, we know we'll have a show and a half on our hands.

Overall, a great performance from Gwen Stefani, if a little cheesy, but we all love a bit of cheese now and again. The song is catchy, and should've got her an all important number one, especially since her most recent efforts haven't had much of a chance. The narrative of the video is relatable, and yet isn't exactly easy to follow.

Buy on iTunes