Nelly Furtado today gave us a taste of her new comeback single Big Hoops (Bigger The Better), featured below.
Here are five reasons why you should be very, very excited.
Um, she’s Nelly Furtado…She’s the Canadian that makes up for Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne and anything Alanis did that wasn’t Jagged Little Pill.
The production team. Nas, Salaam Remi and Tiesto. This is a complex yet solid group, indicating The Spirit Indestructible will be as diverse as Furtado’s already existing catalogue. Nas (or ex Mr Kelis) is one of the most consistent names in hip-hop, while Tiesto’s partnership with Nelly Furtado has already proven a winner on their single “Who Wants to Be Alone.” Oh, you may have heard Salaam Remi’s work. 20 million others certainly did when he produced Amy Winehouse’s last album Back To Black.
It sounds like all three albums. Furtado has confimed this and the premise is a combination of head-scratching and pure adrenalin. The poppy feel of Whoa Nelly! meets the worldly folk of Folklore meets the hip-hoppy dance of Loose? Promises, promises.
It’s not in Spanish. That is all.
It’s been six years since Loose. That is a lot of time to excite (and potentially disappoint.) Furtado’s career has been one of the most interesting in modern pop history. She explodes on to the scene with singles that sound like nothing else on radio, selling seven million copies of her debut album. She follows this up with a credible but slightly obscure album that fails to reach the commercial heights but still sells a cheeky three million. Two years later she turns up in a tank top and makes blistering hip-hop/dance anthems that turn Loose into a squillion seller. Now what?!
And here are her Top 5 Greatest Moments:
5. Try
The sales figures might have looked like “Try” was going to send Furtado into an early and unintended retirement but the song itself is an equal parts haunting and stunning ballad, with a vocal climax that propels the song into the emotional stratosphere.
4. Turn Off The Light
Furtado’s debut single “I’m Like a Bird” was catchy as, well, bird flu. However the twee optimism was a bit much for some, whereas her second hit was darker, deeper and dirtier. It also contained a better scope for Furtado’s worldly sound. One of the main instruments is a sitar for fucks sake!
3. All Good Things (Come To An End)
This song was unyielding in its addictiveness. I’d go as far as to say that the combination of the guitars and Timbaland beat in the introduction is one of the best preludes I’ve ever heard. The track is dreamy, catchy and even survives having a video clip that makes La Toya Jackson’s career look memorable. Then there’s the chorus, “Flames to dust, lovers to friends, why do all good things come to an end”? They don’t if you play the song repeatedly.
2. Maneater
Even though Furtado had spread her hip-hop wings with previous single “Promiscuous”, there was a moment of “Are you fucking serious?” when this track first came out. With a beat so ridiculously aggressive that it reportedly blew up the speakers in Timbaland’s studio, Furtado delivers a monster electro rock track that I nearly lost friendships over from overplaying.
1. Say It Right
There really isn’t much to say here. The second the beat kicks in at 0:19 and Timbaland starts “eh”ing, you know something pretty special has been created. Too slow to be a dance track but too upbeat to be a ballad, “Say It Right” is the kind of song that every singer desperately wishes had been theirs. Pure pop perfection.
