Nelly Furtado is embracing her Latin roots on her new album, Mi Plan, out September 15. The Portuguese-Canadian songstress felt that now was as good a time as any to release her newest album and this time do it all in Spanish.
"Everything I do is natural," she told MTV News about the decision to make the album in the language. "As an artist, I always follow my gut. I don't really follow commercial trends or sales trends. I just kind of go with what's right for me as an artist and what is going to keep me happy and healthy, so Mi Plan is like the next phase."
The singer also thought the language was the right one for this album to best express her current place in life. And for her single "Manos al Aire," "It just felt right for me to write in Spanish. It felt good," she said. "It felt like I could express other emotions."
"Manos al Aire" is in some ways about surrendering (the translation is "hands in the air"), and the emotion behind the song could only be expressed in Spanish, Furtado said. "It's intense and it's vulnerable and strong at the same time," she said. "And I think when I sing about those emotions in Spanish, they come off differently. I don't think I could write an English song about such a complex emotion."
For her album, she also wanted to cater to people who may not understand Spanish, so the singer took it upon herself to include subtitles with the album. "I included subtitles for people that don't speak Spanish, and I included subtitles for people that only speak Spanish as well, so they might want to know the lyrics in English."