Maroon 5 Teamed Up With Gwen Stefani

On Monday, Maroon 5 premiered “Maps,” the lead single from their upcoming fifth studio album, V. While the song’s pure pop sound might be a disappointment to some fans, lead singer Adam Levine shared a couple details about the group’s new album with Ryan Seacrest that should help turn those frowns upside down. Not only did Levine call V his “favorite” album that the band has ever done, he also revealed that No Doubt’s leading lady Gwen Stefani is featured on the record! Stefani may only appear on one song, but I’ll take new music from her any way I can get it.

Describing V's sound, Levine said:

Here’s the deal, I’m so excited about this album. Mostly because I think that what we always do with every record … it’s kind of everything we’ve ever done as a band musically. It’s kind of all of those things on this album. It’s what we used to sound like, it’s what we sound like now, it’s what we want to sound like tomorrow. It’s all those elements all combined to make one, I think, really great album. … It’s a better listen than ever.

See? There’s no reason to be upset about “Maps." (For the record, I'm not upset. I like "Maps" a lot.) It sounds like fans of Maroon 5’s older sound will be getting some new tracks to jam to, as well. As far as this Stefani business is concerned, Levine was a little bummed that word had already gotten out about the collaboration (it was apparently supposed to be a surprise), but confirmed that she does in fact make an appearance on V.

I’m having a hard time imagining how Levine and Stefani’s voices will sound together on a track, but I’m definitely intrigued. What if they teamed up on an ‘80s-inspired ballad like Stefani’s “Cool”? I think that would probably be pretty awesome. Of course, there’s always the possibility that they did something up-tempo like “Moves Like Jagger,” in which case, hopefully Stefani got more than 30 seconds worth of singing time (poor Christina Aguilera).

Recap: Even if you don’t care much for “Maps,” Maroon 5’s new album is going to have a little something for everyone. Oh, and it also features Stefani. This is great news.

“Maps” is available on iTunes now. V will be released on September 2.