"Baby Don't Lie" | ||||
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Single by Gwen Stefani | ||||
Released | October 20, 2014 | |||
Format | Digital download | |||
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Length | 3:21 | |||
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Gwen Stefani singles chronology | ||||
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"Baby Don't Lie" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Gwen Stefani. Written by Stefani, Ryan Tedder, Benny Blanco and Noel Zancanella, and produced by Tedder and Blanco, "Baby Don't Lie" is a midtempo electropop and reggae-pop track. The song was made available for digital download on October 20, 2014, and a day later to mainstream radio stations. It serves as Stefani's musical comeback as a solo artist; her last solo single, "Early Winter", was released in January 2008.
Lyrically, "Baby Don't Lie" discusses insecurities in a relationship. The song received generally mixed to favorable reviews, with some being receptive towards its reggae environment, while a few were ambivalent towards the song, noting that it wasn't as assertive as they expected. Its music video was released on October 21, 2014 and was directed by Stefani's longtime collaborator Sophie Muller, who directed a handful of videos for Stefani's solo career. Intended to be featured on Stefani's third studio album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like, the single, along with others, was scrapped in favor of new material.
After releasing two solo albums, Love. Angel. Music. Baby (2004) and The Sweet Escape (2006), Stefani returned to work with her band No Doubt. In 2012 they released their sixth studio album, Push and Shove. During that time, she claimed, "I never need to do that or want to do it again. I'm happy being in No Doubt." However, after an appearance during Pharrell Williams' performance at the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Pharrell teased that the rare live appearance from Stefani was the start of a comeback effort for the singer. In July 2014, during an interview for Idolator, record producer Diplo announced that he had produced some songs for her new album. In September, during an interview for MTV News during New York Fashion Week, she confirmed to be working on a solo album and a No Doubt album, stating, "I'm going into the studio tonight with Pharrell [Williams], I'm going to be writing and also just seeing what comes along my way. I've been recording a few things." Williams completed, "When I tell you she's killing it, it's another level."