As Nelly Furtado prepares to survey the first decade of her recording career with the Nov. 15 release of "The Best of Nelly Furtado," the Canadian songstress reports that she's "just over sort of halfway done" with her next studio album, tentatively titled "Lifestyle" and due out in 2011."I'm a little bit picky, so I'm kind of going through all kinds of material," Furtado tells Billboard.com. "There's new material I'm writing and old material that's... very good and hasn't been re-approached. For me it's about sharing moments of my songs with fans, so whatever are the best moments will end up on the album, I guess."
Furtado predicts the set will be "eclectic" and influenced by the wide-ranging approach of her double-platinum 2000 debut, "Whoa, Nelly!," as well as the vocal work she did on her 2009 Spanish album "Mi Plan." "I think that from singing the Spanish album I've learned a new confidence as a vocalist," Furtado explains. "And I think there's a little bit more of an alternative influence on this new album, kind of how my first album was definitely inspired and partially influenced by 'alternative' music. I've been listening to a lot of new music, everything from Janelle Monae, the xx, Florence and the Machine. It's definitely inspired by a lot of the new music that's coming out right now."
Furtado has been recording primarily with Salaam Remi, who co-produced "Night is Young," the first single and one of three new tracks on "The Best of...," as well as a "super poppy version" of "Crocodile Rock" with Elton John, for the soundtrack to the 2011 animated film "Gnomeo and Juliet." She's also "experimented" with reggae with Stupid Genius and has worked with Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos.
The album will also be Furtado's first to feature only English songs, she says. "I've never done that before," she says. "I'm interested in hearing what that sounds like."
The album is on hold right now, however, as Furtado focuses on "The Best of..." The disc will be released in a single-disc standard edition as well as a deluxe package that includes two CDs and a DVD; in addition to "Night is Young" it also includes the unreleased songs "Stars" and "Girlfriend in the City," all of which were originally slated for the next album.
"I think it's a fun thing to celebrate," says Furtado, who will appear on the Latin Grammy Awards on Nov. 11 in Las Vegas and hopes to do a few shows to promote "The Best of..." "I'm proud of the fact that ('Whoa, Nelly!') came out a full 10 years ago and you can still put it on and it sounds like something that's on the radio now; at the time we were just kind of making music we felt like listening to, which is what I've always done since."
Billboard.com