Early Winter

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For the camping equipment company, see Early Winters.
“Early Winter”
“Early Winter” cover
Single by Gwen Stefani
from the album The Sweet Escape
Released Flag of World October 1, 2007
Flag of Europe November 15, 2007
Flag of Australia January 20, 2008 [1]
Flag of Germany January 25, 2008
Flag of South Africa Flag of France May 16, 2008
Format Airplay, Digital download
Recorded 2006
Genre Pop rock, indie rock
Length 4:44 (album version)
3:45 (radio edit)
Label Interscope
Writer(s) Tim Rice-Oxley, Gwen Stefani
Producer Nellee Hooper
Gwen Stefani singles chronology
"Now That You Got It"
(2007)		 "Early Winter"
(2007)

"Early Winter" is a pop rock ballad written by Gwen Stefani and Tim Rice-Oxley (pianist for British band Keane) for Gwen Stefani's second album The Sweet Escape (2006). The song received positive reviews from music critics, and its opening riffs were used in a Hewlett-Packard commercial featuring Stefani. According to Billboard, it was released as the fifth single off the album.[2] The song has only been released in South Africa and France as of May 2008.

Contents

[edit] Background and writing

Stefani called Rice-Oxley the night before she was to work with him in the studio and told him that she wanted a ballad in the vein of Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face", Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly with His Song", and Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time". Stefani, pleased with the song, avoided making changes to it after Rice-Oxley played it for her. She later rewrote part of it before recording the song. The song's lyrics describe lovers approaching the end of a relationship.[3]

[edit] Critical reception

"Early Winter" received positive reviews from music critics. Digital Spy praised the song, calling it "...the most affecting moment of Stefani's solo career to date."[4] Pitchfork Media stated that the song "...proves that Stefani still has the ability to elevate an otherwise ordinary rock song to another level..."[5] The Guardian referred to it as 'stylish,'[6] and The New York Times called it one of the album's most 'tuneful' tracks.[7] PopMatters noted it as a highlight of the album and compared the song's vulnerability to No Doubt's "Don't Speak."[8] The NME characterized it as "...one of the few potential hits..." from The Sweet Escape.[9] Entertainment Weekly described it as a "majestic power ballad" on which Stefani's "Orange County-girl voice doesn't seem genuinely sad."[10] Slant Magazine compared "Early Winter" to the songs that Stefani wrote with No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal for the album. It was also stated that the track sounded "...less forced and much less self-conscious" than other songs.[11] John Murphy of MusicOHM called the song's lyrics some of the best written by Gwen. He also called the ballad 'palatable.'[12] Early Winter is regarded as Gwen's greatest accomplishment as a solo artist by many fans.

[edit] Music video

Stefani singing to the mirror.
Stefani singing to the mirror.

The music video premiered on November 15, 2007 on LAUNCHcast. The video opens with a black and white scene of Stefani lying on the floor in a long white gown. In the next scene, Stefani is shown walking on the street under red street lights and then holds her love interest against the wall and talks to him. The scene then changes to Stefani walking on a street and then walks into the railway station. In the next scene, Stefani is seen singing under falling red - coloured feathers in a huge palace type hall. There are intercuts of Stefani staring at herself in the mirror in unkempt hair and smudged make - up. Stefani is also seen sitting on the floor and singing while crying. Stefani is then seen on the railway station walking besides a moving train. The video ends with Stefani running out of the hall.

In the video, Gwen Stefani wore a green Dolce and Gabbana gown.[13] As seen in the single cover.

Sophie Muller shot the video in three cities of the European Union, in Milan, Italy, in Prague, Czech Republic and Budapest, Hungary during the European-leg of Stefani's The Sweet Escape Tour. In Milan she shot some parts at a church and hotel. In Hungary she chose one of the railway stations of Budapest, the Nyugati Railway Station for the video-shoot.

The video premiered on TRL on 18 December 2007 and has both debuted and peaked at #4 on the VH1 Top 20 Music Video Countdown.

Video reached #1 on MTV Adria's Adria Top 20 Countdown for March 1

The Video in its first week was in #8 place in MTV Brazil, after one week, the video of early winter went up 6 positions and arrived at #2.

The video has had more than 2,059,498 views as of June 11th 2008.

[edit] Formats and track listing

German CD Single[14]
  1. "Early Winter" (Album Version) - 4:45
  2. "Early Winter" (Live) - 6:52
Japanese iTunes EP
  1. "Early Winter" (Album Version) - 4:45
  2. "Early Winter" (Live) - 6:52
  3. "Early Winter" (Instrumental) - 4:47
Promotional Only CD Single
  1. "Early Winter" (Radio Edit) - 3:45

[edit] Chart performance

"Early Winter" had its early charting period restricted only to European countries. The song first appeared on the Bulgarian Singles Chart in 2007. It entered the chart at number 39 and peaked at number 28 for two weeks before falling out of the chart.[15] In Slovakia, it began it's run at number 95 and then peaked at number 6.[16] In the Czech Singles Chart, the song peaked at number 19.[17] The song entered the European Top 200 at number 199 and currently peaks at number 7.In Mexico, Is the First Number One In The Radios And #65 In the Sales chart The song entered the Finland Top 20 at number 15.[15] In Macedonia the song began its chart run at number 4 and peaked at number 3.[18] In Poland, the song debuted at number 66 and reached at number 4.[19] The song debuted at the German Singles Chart at number 6, the song's highest debut so far.[15]

"Early Winter" was Stefani's only entry to miss the top 5 of the chart, stalling at #9 in December 2007 on the NLP Hot 25

[edit] Charts

Chart (2007/ 2008) Peak
position
Austria Top 75[20] 22
Bulgaria Singles Top 40[15] 28
Billboard European Hot 100 Singles[21] 26
Brazil MTV Top 10 [22] 2
Croatia Top 50[23] 12
Czech Singles Chart[24] 19
Euro 200 Singles Chart[25] 7
MTV European Top 20 Singles[26] 6
Estonia Chart[27] 7
France Airplay Chart[28] 53
Hungary Top 40[29] 17
Italian Singles Chart[30] 34
Malta Chart[31] 14
Mediatraffic German Top 40[32] 4
Finland Top 20[15] 14
Faroe Islands Top 15[33] 5
Germany Singles Top 100[15] 6
Georgia Top 20[34] 8
Lithuania Top 40[35] 17
Macedonian Top 30[36] 3
Mexican Radio Top 10[37] 1
Mexican Top 100[38] 65
Polish National Top 50[39] 4
Romanian Singles Chart[40] 40
Russia top 100[41] 82
Slovakia Singles Chart[42] 6
Slovenian Singles Chart[43] 9
South African Singles Chart[44] 12
Swiss Singles Top 100[15] 12
Turkish Top 20 Chart[45] 12
Ukraine Top 40 Chart[46] 3
United World Chart (Airplay)[47] 2

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=271791946&s=143460
  2. ^ http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=271791946&s=143460
  3. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer. It's not available yet."Baby On Board! Gwen Stefani's Son Joins Her On LP, Spring Tour". MTV News. December 4, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  4. ^ Digital Spy
  5. ^ Pytlik, Mark. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". Pitchfork Media. December 7, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  6. ^ Sullivan, Caroline. "Gwen Stefani, The Sweet Escape". The Guardian. December 1, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  7. ^ Pareles, Jon. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". The New York Times. December 4, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  8. ^ Huff, Quentin B. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". PopMatters. December 14, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  9. ^ Miller, Alex. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". NME. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  10. ^ Michel, Sia. "Sweet Escape | Music Review". Entertainment Weekly. December 1, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  11. ^ Cinquemani, Sal. "Music Review: Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". Slant Magazine. 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  12. ^ MusicOHM.com Retrieved September 4, 2007
  13. ^ Image of Gown Source stating the Gown
  14. ^ Amazon.com: Early Winter (2-Track): Music: Gwen Stefani
  15. ^ a b c d e f g "Early Winter" Chart performance α charts.com Retrieved January 5, 2008
  16. ^ "Early Winter" Chart performance (Slovakia) Retrieved January 5, 2008
  17. ^ "Early Winter" Chart performance Czech Singles Chart Retrieved January 5, 2008
  18. ^ Macedonian Chart
  19. ^ Poland Singles Chart
  20. ^ http://acharts.us/austria_singles_top_75Retrieved February 07, 2008
  21. ^ "Gwen Stefani - Early Winter European Hot 100 Chart Performance" Billboard Retrieved 2008-01-10
  22. ^ Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  23. ^ "Croatia Top 50" Retrieved 2008-03-10
  24. ^ Czech Top 100. Ifpicr.cz . Retrieved November 17, 2007
  25. ^ APCCHART.COM © since 1988 APC-stats EU/UE
  26. ^ INFINITY CHARTS: MTV's European Top 20
  27. ^ http://www.u-pop.ee/top/muusika/343/ Retrieved January 15, 2008
  28. ^ http://francecharts.site.voila.fr/franceairplay2437.htm Retrieved Aphil 11, 2008
  29. ^ http://www.mahasz.hu/m/?menu=slagerlistak&menu2=radios_top_40February 27, 2008.
  30. ^ March 8, 2008.
  31. ^ http://www.apcchart.com/April 6, 2008.
  32. ^ "German Singles Chart (Unofficial) Week 07 of 2008" Retrieved February 11, 2008
  33. ^ "Faroe Island Top 100" Retrieved on 2008-02-16
  34. ^ Georgia Top 20
  35. ^ [1] Retrieved January 27, 2008
  36. ^ Macedonian Top 30 Retrieved January 25, 2008
  37. ^ "Mexican Top 100 (Official Chart)" Retrieved February 20, 2008
  38. ^ "Mexican Top 100 (Official Chart)" Retrieved February 20, 2008
  39. ^ Polish Singles Chart. apcchart.com. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
  40. ^ http://www.rt100.ro/top-100-edition.html Please see "Issue7" of the year 2008 Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  41. ^ http://www.tophit.ru/stat2.shtmlFebruary 27, 2008.
  42. ^ Slovakia Top 100. Ifpicr.cz . Retrieved November 17, 2007
  43. ^ "Slovenian Singles Chart" Note :- The Official Slovenian Chart as "APCC Charts" displays this chart. Retrieved on 2008-02-14
  44. ^ Chart Data: Gwen Stefani
  45. ^ Turkish Top 20 Chart
  46. ^ [2] Retrieved February 10, 2008.
  47. ^ Chart Data: Gwen Stefani

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Gwen Stefani
Albums
Singles
"What You Waiting For?" · "Rich Girl" · "Hollaback Girl" · "Cool" · "Luxurious" · "Crash" · "Wind It Up" · "The Sweet Escape" · "4 in the Morning" · "Now That You Got It" · "Early Winter"
Other Singles
Guest appearances
Related articles
Tours
Related People