Hard as it may be to imagine, it’s been three years since Nelly Furtado first came into our lives with that run of exquisite singles and a slightly patchy debut album. Those concerned with such things might have wished that this follow up could have appeared a little earlier – even a few months before it’s Christmas release – yet Furtado has been tied up with the far more important matter of her first baby. Thus Folklore found itself slightly trampled in the great December compilation rush, a shame because it deserved much more attention.
The break seems to have done her the power of good, helping her focus her world of ideas into a much more cohesive whole than last time out. The opening track may be at pains to point out that she is more than just a one-trick pony, but one listen proves that that particular accusation that could never stand up – her hip-hop influenced beats are fleshed out by the strings of the Kronos Quartet and some ferocious Breton style fiddle playing. The album title is indeed an apt one, with a range of acoustic and traditional instruments mixing it with Track and Field’s crisp production. It all hangs together beautifully, providing a fitting backdrop to the singer’s many styles. The staggering thing is that she makes them all sound so naturally hers. The naked emotion that made ‘Like A Bird’ such a joy is present throughout, manifesting itself in positive anger (‘Powerless’), the exuberance of youth (‘Explode’), drama (‘Try’) and sheer happiness (pretty much everything). The theory that only miserable people can make extraordinary music has always been a little flimsy, but Folklore is the kind of album to blow it out of the water. Nelly Furtado is obviously in a good place right now and this record takes you there too. Forget last Christmas, Folklore is set to be one of the great records of the summer.