Album Review: Folklore by Nelly Furtado

How would the new Britney album have sounded if, like Nelly Furtado, she'd taken Portuguese folk as a starting point, and roped in the Kronos Quartet for good measure? It's hard to believe the two are the same age; the only sign that Folklore wasn't made by someone twice Furtado's 23 years is its post-pubescent earnestness. Nelly burbles about "not wanting to hide behind metaphor" and uncovering her "wiser self". This admittedly brave follow-up to her hit debut, Whoa, Nelly! is a long way from pop'n'breakbeats; in fact, songs like Saturdays (acoustic guitar in echoey room), Fresh Off the Boat (Brazilian-flavour clapathon) and Island of Wonder (melancholy collaboration with Brazilian vocalist Caetano Veloso) suggest she's taken leave of her commercial senses.

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