Gwen Stefani’s last non-festive album, 2016’s This Is What the Truth Feels Like, cemented the star firmly in a pop territory worlds away from her No Doubt beginnings.

Five years have passed, however, and, on her upcoming fifth solo LP, the singer is going back to her Ska origins once again.

After releasing lead single, Let Me Reintroduce Myself, back in December, Gwen recently told The One Show she’s been re-inspired by the music of Madness this time around.

“When I was 12 or 13 I got introduced to Madness by my brother. It was all about anti-racism and ska and unity,” she said.

“That really was the whole reason we started a band.

“[Ska] was kind of the idea behind this record, which was about going back to my roots, and basically discovering why I got into music in the first place – what defined me and what made me feel like I’m meant to do something in this world.

“That was ska and reggae music. Suggs, I still love you!”

The Hollaback Girl star dropped her holiday album, You Make It Feel Like Christmas, in 2017, and she admitted that she didn’t expect to be releasing a new album this year, amid the pandemic. 

“I didn’t think it was even possible,” she confessed. “Someone said, they’re doing it [by writing songs] on Zoom and I was like, ‘That sounds horrible.’ I tried it and I wrote a damn song on a phone!

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“That was the start of this blaze of songs. I think I have over 20 songs and I’m doing a record – I never knew this was coming.”

While a release date for the album has yet to be announced, Gwen recently teased the record is coming “soon,” revealing: “I have all the songs. I wrote a song yesterday. I’m still writing.

“I’m going to write a song tomorrow and I’m just going to edit, you know, and get the best of the best.

“As soon as they say I can put it out. Soon.”