Something for Everyone

Spanning the sounds of pop, folk, hip-hop, funk, electronica, and even world beat, Furtado has dabbled her toes into just about everything, giving everyone a little taste of something they can enjoy. This album is rich in diverse cultures, passion and talent, surprisingly original, and infused with Furtado’s sparkling zest for music.There are many wonderful aspects of this album, like the employed talents of the Kronos String Quartet, Brazilian Caetano Valeno’s backing vocals, and Bela Fleck’s banjo [along with numerous other instruments from the pipe organ to the tabla], not the least of which is that this album is built on Furtado’s charm and talent, not on some gimmicky hook song made for the masses. While there are still songs that the masses could enjoy, this album has more substance than pop preference.

The folksy ballad “Try” is immediately followed by the club-beat “Fresh Off
The Boat,” followed by the world beat Latin-flavored “Forga,” which precedes “Saturdays” [sounding more like a song from its predecessor Whoa, Nelly], and is followed by the live-improv, acoustic track of “The Grass is Green.” Nelly uses this wide array to spread her vocal wings, showcasing her not-so Diva-driven voice. But make no mistake, the songs follow each other neatly, as they are all cohesive in their dissimilarities and work as a broad-based, comprehensive album. This is a superior and welcome effort, to be appreciated for the work and orchestration it took to put this fertile and diverse piece together. Furtado has started something here, and it would be interesting to see if she can play upon that for her next album.