Nelly Furtado Mi Plan Review

Canadian Songbird Throws her 'Manos Al Aire' on First Spanish Album

Oct 5, 2009

Nelly Furtado releases her fourth album, Mi Plan, her first in Spanish, proving once again this Canadian singer-songwriting superstar follows her own plan.

Never one to follow trends, Furtado tackled pure pop on 2000's Whoa Nelly, followed by world beats on 2003's Folklore before reinventing herself and propelling her career into the stratosphere with 2007's Hip Hop/ dance fusion Loose.

Though it would have been easy for Nelly Furtado to churn out another Timbaland-produced dance-a-thon, instead she switches gears once more on the more subdued Mi Plan, her first album en espagnol.

Furtado fully embraced her inner dance diva and hit the floor and the charts with her international smash singles “Promiscuous Girl” and “Maneater”, but besides lead single “Manos Al Aire”, a dancey cry to an emotionally unavailable lover, the bulk of the music on Mi Plan deals with a central theme of love, but with more rhythm, Latin influences and passion than on her English albums.

“As a female, the moment you sing too passionately in English you are kind of labeled as an angry singer,” Furtado told CNN in an interview posted on her website. “In Spanish that doesn't happen. You can be dramatic as you want and it's accepted. So it's liberating”.

Furtado feels so liberated, fans waiting for another album in English will have to be patient, her next album is reportedly recorded in Portuguese.

Silencio With Josh Groban

Mi Plan continues with an up-tempo, party atmosphere on several cuts such as “Manos Al Aire” and “Suficiente Tiempo”, but despite the feel good vibe of those tracks, the album contains many ballads and slower songs based on love - this isn’t a Spanish version Loose.

Furtado’s first Spanish album reveals several layers to this diverse and highly talented young star. She triggers gentle sentiment on “Suenos” (featuring Alejandro Fernández), drifts along carefree on the sunny “Bajo Otra Luz”, and dreams of warmer shores on “Vacacion” before getting down right groovy on hidden track “Fantasmas”.

Of the many highlights on Mi Plan, such as the mid-tempo “Como Lluvia”, the delicate ballad “Silencio”, on which she duets with Josh Groban, deserves a special nod.

Furtado Teams With Alex Cuba, James Bryan and Juan Luis Guerra

Mi Plan contains all original music featuring four tracks written by Furtado herself alongside compositions penned by an all star line up of composers including The Philosopher Kings’ James Bryan – one of Canada’s biggest young guitarists, producers and songwriters.

Other contributors include Grammy Award winning Mexican-American singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter Julieta Venegas, vetran Dominican singer, songwriter and multiple Grammy winner, Juan Luis Guerra as well as Juno Award winning Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter Alex Cuba.

While there’s nothing as catchy on the album as “Maneater” and “I’m Like A Bird”, Mi Plan won’t disappoint her devout following, and guarantees to cast a spell over a whole new audience prepared to transcend the language barrier.

The copyright of the article Nelly Furtado Mi Plan Review in Latin Music is owned by James W. Coates. Permission to republish Nelly Furtado Mi Plan Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.