New Music: Gwen Stefani & Pharrell - "Shine" [Full / Off 'Paddington' Soundtrack]
Here finally is the full version of Gwen Stefani and Pharrell William's newest collaboration "Shine". The uplifting pop song is part of the soundtrack of comedy film “Paddington” (based in the Paddington Bear by Michael Bond) which was released in theatres in the UK in late November and will do so in the US and Canada in early January 2015.
I wonder what took song long for the full version of "Shine” to surface online? The Gwen and Pharrell duet is played during the end credits of “Paddington” and a fan of them could have recorded the full audio of “Shine” with his smartphone by just waiting till the very end of the credits, but I guess a) nobody liked the song or b) nobody wanted to waste their time (and look bad) by staying in the movie theatre till the very end.
"Shine" song review
Is the song Oscar-worthy like the latest Pharrell-produced soundtrack song “Happy”? Well, no, but it’s not a bad song either. I expected better – true thing - “Shine” is just average, but since this can be labelled as “new Gwen Stefani music” then I’m unable to hate it ‘cause I just love everything Gwen and I’ve been waiting so damn long to hear new solo music from her since “The Sweet Escape” was released in 2006.
And mentioning “The Sweet Escape”, "Shine" kind of reminds me to that album, 'cause it sounds like a track that could be part of it! Gwen's affected vocals in the verses and the trumpets in the beat are the key pieces.
So we have two Gwen and Pharrell collaborations out there RIGHT NOW: “Shine” and “Spark the Fire”. Which is the best? “Spark the Fire” of course, but I’m so upset the banger tune isn't connecting with the US audience because its chart positions everywhere are currently stalled or going down. True Gwen's only TV-performed it on "The Voice" so far, so maybe she needs to correct. I’m sure (fingers crossed) that Interscope will send her to multiple TV shows in January.