When Nelly Furtado released Loose in June 2006, it was a curve ball. Just three years before, she had been collaborating with people like Caetano Veloso and the Kronos Quartet on polite, artsy folk-pop songs. Then suddenly she was singing about sex over blaring beats from Timbaland. It could only have been a way to sell records, critics concluded, and if so, it certainly did the trick; the album has sold no fewer than 11 million copies to date.
Whether Furtado’s transformation was her own decision or her superiors’ is still a mystery; the further up the charts one goes, the harder it is to tell whose ideas are whose. But 10 years later, loose remains one of the most convincingly and creatively sexual pop albums of the 2000s and one of the finest artifacts of that strange and fertile era for pop. The sex songs here aren’t just clichés about hands and bodies. They’re passionate, creatively written and exceedingly weird.
Take “Do It,” which inflates the physical feeling of sex to the operatic scale generally reserved for matters of the heart like crushes and breakups (“just a little touch has got me seeing things” – wow, I’d like to meet this guy). Or “Promiscuous,” where Furtado and Timbaland affectionately (and respectfully) play ping-pong with a loaded term too often used to slut-shame. Or “Glow,” which uses its title as code for the feeling during or after great sex, in addition to cleverly flipping the “my friends say you’re no good for me” trope. Anyone who’s ever had their world completely rocked by another person – or fantasized about it – can find something to enjoy here.
Another interesting thing about Loose is how little Furtado, as a vocalist, sounds like your typical “sexy” female pop singer circa 2006. On “Maneater,” with its layers of slightly off-key chanting, she sounds a bit like a cackling goblin. There are no deep Britney gasps. Vocal fry is employed sparsely but dutifully. For a lot of it, she raps. She’s always calm and collected. Her vocals are understated, often deadpan, and in this she seems to predict vocalists like Rihanna and Lady Gaga who make the most out of a limited palate. Her high notes seem to have influenced Grimes; they share an ability to propel their voice into areas that are almost uncanny.
And then – holy shit – there’s Timbaland’s production. Loose was mere months removed from Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, in which Timbaland embraced his status as auteur by drowning his protege in pompous symphonies. Here, his approach to the nine (out of thirteen) songs he produces is utilitarian but no less weird. Saw-toothed synths augment the trashy swagger of “Maneater” and “No Hay Igual.” Chiptune bleeps and bloops give “Do It” a tactile, ticklish feeling that only makes it sound even filthier. Bits of cut-up vocal are scattered liberally throughout. And he can dial back the weirdness too, as on the gorgeous “Wait For You.”
The idiosyncrasy of his approach is only more obvious given the presence of four non-Timbaland songs. One of these, the dreamy “Showtime,” is quite strong. The others are the weakest things here and muddy the flow of an otherwise consistent album. “Te Busque” is a post-grunge nightmare with a hammy chorus from Juanes and some truly dreadful rapping from Furtado. “In God’s Hands” and “All Good Things” are hookless acoustic cheese that mostly seem to offset the risk of making a commercial gambit with such a strange record.
It’s worth noting that these are the least sexual songs here too, so it’s possible Timbaland played a part in Furtado’s decision to get nasty. But she doesn’t feel like she’s in over her head here, and her effortlessness and comfort suggests that this was something she wanted from the get-go and just got the OK from Timbaland. It’s hard to say. Either way, this stands as one of the most artful recent mainstream symbioses between vocalist and producer and one of the great gems of 2000s pop. In today’s pop landscape, when the genre is weirder and more respected than it’s perhaps ever been, it may only sound better with age.
Listen to Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous” feat. Timbaland below.
