Nelly Furtado - Loose album review

0 comments | Published by Rach Read |

In the words of my hairdresser, ‘Since when did Nelly Furtado get all sexy?!’

A valid question, since the last time Nelly made much of an impression on England, she was busy prettily tra-la-la-ing that she was a bird. Well, now that’s all changed with self-proclaimed slut song Maneater, featuring massive synthes, a massive bass and even more massive beats.

Expect more of the same from parent album Loose, courtesy of Timbaland’s banging production, which he’s since whored out to everyone that asks over the past 3 years - apparently, the speakers actually burst into flame during recording! Whilst this is great on the impossible-to-top Maneater and the maddening dance-floor pounds of No Hay Igual, it quickly gets repetitive on tracks like Glow and second single Promiscuous, which suffer from a lack of progression and are content to beat out four minutes without ever getting anywhere. I mean, these tracks are great if you are in the mood, but listening to them on repeat is akin to an admittedly catchy pneumatic drill.

The album is much better when the old Nelly is more evident, on songs like the warm summer breeze of All Good Things (Come To An End) (co-written by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, although at over 5 minutes long, more attention should have been paid to the sentiment of the song title), the bouncy pop Do It, and the dark atmospheric theatricality of Say It Right. But please spare me the obligatory snooze-worthy ballad In God’s Hands, which is totally at odds with the rest of album’s rhythms.

Overall, Nelly’s flaming hot re-invention is, in reality, nothing of the sort; a mere tweaking thanks to Timbaland’s urban styling. The duo have produced a great summer album – but whether it, just like Nelly’s sexy image, has longevity remains to be seen.