Having been a [rock] steady No Doubt fan since I was a wee lad – almost 20 years! – my phone blows up every time a new single drops. Whether the track is a new full band tune or a solo Stefani outing, friends, family and social media usually hit me up to tell me that they love it, think it sucks, or to make sure I’m on top of my game (been scouting out leak links all weekend, guys). Not only do I feel obliged to offer some comments, but YES, YOU GUYS, you can stop texting, I know it sucks (but no really, keep texting, let’s talk).

With Stefani currently seated in one of The Voice‘s red spinny chairs, it makes sense that she’d want to capitalize on all that mainstream attention. Rumors are swirling about that a new solo Stefani era is going to be a lead-in for a new No Doubt record and that their label, Interscope, wants No Doubt to return, so at least we have that to hold on to. But let’s talk about that new track for a hot second, shall we?

“Baby Don’t Lie” isn’t a total disaster. Its chorus is catchy. Stefani does some cool whiny vocal lifts. But it’s too safe. Stefani has never pandered to radio this much and it’s not a good sound for her. The lead singles for her last two solo releases, “What You Waiting For?” and “Wind It Up,” were weird little oddities. Stefani took her own advice: “Take a chance, you stupid hoe.” All of that originality and all of those risks have been blown out the window on this one.

Stefani used to be a trend-setter and that’s one of the things that made her such a star. I hate to say this, but she’s just not the songwriter she used to be and that’s a hard pill for us die-hard No Doubt fans to swallow. Now people write mediocre shit for her while she phones it in, and in this case, that mediocre writer is some dude from One Direction OneRepublic who isn’t even important enough for me to Google. It’s sad and beneath her, but I just don’t think she has that fire anymore.

I won’t count Stefani out though. We all know what she’s capable of. And seeing how boring, predictable and vanilla this song is, chances are it’ll succeed on FM radio. It’s crazy repetitive and has a stupid-simple beat that does sort of lull you into a zombie-fied state. But it’s still a major disappointment to her Pop fans, to her No Doubt fans, and to Top 40 music in general…mostly because we all know she can do better. Much better.

Maybe the tracks she cut with Pharrell will turn out some funky, fresh beats and bring her back to Pop glory a la “Yummy” and “Hollaback Girl.” If not, we’ll just have to wait another 27 years until the next No Doubt album arrives.

Hear for yourself:

What do YOU guys think? Am I being too harsh?