Nelly Furtado - 'In God's Hands'
It's almost shocking to think of this song appearing on the same album as songs like 'Maneater' and 'Promiscuous'. This is partly because those songs were released blimming AGES ago, and we should be expecting a new Nelly album soon (surely?) and partly because whatever cold muse inspired those songs - modern classics both - clearly spent some time in the warmth and love of the people who love it the best, before getting back to the hard graft of making creative people think clever things about stuff.
(Windows Media only)
It's almost as if, with 'In God's Hands', Nelly is trying to send a message to anyone who loved 'I'm Like A Bird', but was scared off by the frosty demeanour of her more recent songs. She's saying "hey, you guys! I miss you! Come on back and give ol' Nelly a cuddle, eh?"
And it's probably a good time to do it, cos even 'All Good Things (Come To An End)' was chillier than a penguin's toenail, whereas this, to borrow a phrase from the bloke who wrote that song for Madame F, well, it's all yellow.
Some of the defrosting can be credited to as simple and technical a thing as the time signature. There's a lilt and a sway to that three-legged waltz rhythm (please don't write in and say waltzes are 3/4 and this is more like a 6/4 or 6/8 or whatever, showing off is MY job) which doesn't really carry the "Hello boys! I'm a sex-robot from the future and I will do you until your pelvis breaks and you will cry and I will not" message as well as the more funk-friendly 4/4.
And, to take the opposite extreme, some of it is Nelly herself. Here she croons a tender song about a love gone wonky, in which there are infinite oceans of tenderness, hinted at only by the grain of regret in her voice and the gentle swoosh of the pretty (wooden) instruments doing their (non-robotic) thing in what sounds like a big open room with great big windows on a sunny day.
Which is as far removed from the sweaty, airless studio they were probably recorded in as it's possible to get, and clearly guitars and violins aren't inherently 'warmer' instruments than synthesisers, seeing as they're all man-made objects, using tools and stuff, but you get the idea.
So, if whoever controls the weather is reading this...c'mon, even NELLY FURTADO has gone warm and sunshiney, would it kill you to let summer start now? PLEASE?
Download: Out now
CD Released: July 30th
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comments
Nelly Furtado rules! I love her new single 'In God's Hands' and I hope it goes to no1! Good luck with getting to no1 Nelly. :)
I prefer 'Say It Right' but that only got to no10 in the UK singles chart. Also I am a big fan of Nelly Furtado, I have all of her albums but i am only 14 so i can't go to any of her conserts. :(