Gwen Stefani thinks being back together with No Doubt feels like "home".
The 42-year-old singer says it’s natural to be back with her band mates after an 11 year break and admits that by comparison her solo career made her feel like she was playing a role.
Gwen told New York Magazine: "There’s nothing that compares to being in a band with your best friends you’ve known all these years. Playing live is so automatic and so electric.
"That whole period when I got to do [solo] records, to me it was indulging my theatrical side … songs that were never really meant to be taken seriously, just for fun.
"It was just a project I did that was very inspired, and it kind of got a little out of control, really.
"But there’s no place like home; we’re so comfortable together, we understand each other. It feels, like, normal. Whereas that [solo] period felt like I was trying to be something, and play a role, and pretend."
The ‘Settle Down’ hitmakers spent longer than anticipated working on their new album due to the pressures of parenthood and family lives, but are proud of the polished finished result.
Bassist Tony Kanal revealed: "On this record, we spent a lot of time fine-tuning songs … we didn’t have the luxury like in the past of writing 30 songs and picking the best 10.
"This was, like, every song had to count. And the 11 songs we have are the 11 songs we wrote."
No Doubt’s sixth studio album ‘Push and Shove’ is released on September 24 in the UK and September 25 in the US.