Nelly Furtado? Don’t know much about her, except that she had some kind of crossover pop hit aimed at the adult contemporary audience a few years back. But now, she’s teamed up with super-producer Timbaland for Loose, her third LP, and attempt to capture the hearts of a younger demographic. Truth be told, she tapped Timbaland long before “Sexy Back” was cool – in fact, the two teamed up for the “Turn Out The Light Remix” back when her first LP dropped in 2002 (bonus points for anyone with that glow-in-the-dark 12inch single in their record collection). Loose reunites the team, looking to continue the trend of pop-stars singing over hip-hop beats.

       Loose starts off remarkably strong, with “Afraid”, where Timbaland ingeniously channels dark, 80′s new wave sounds, while Furtado sings about human insecurity, which apparently she is now devoid of. Her newfound confidence translates well into the next pair of club-packers, “Maneater” and “Promiscuous”, respectively. “Maneater” is perhaps one of Timbo’s most brilliant beats yet – a roller-coaster ride of raw, hard-hitting, marching band drums, mixed with synthesized tubas and harpsichords. Meanwhile, “Promiscuous Girl”, (which you undoubtedly heard sometime this past year), finds a rapping Nelly Furtado (!) trading verses with a rapping Timbaland (!), in a cute game of cat and mouse. 

     Timbaland’s remarkable consistency carries on throughout delightful pop songs like “Glow” and “Say It Right”, not to mention the reggaeton tinged “No Hay Igual”. However the album takes a left at sleepyville during it’s second half. The completely out of place salsa duet “Te Busque” (feat. Juanes) is a far cry from anything else prior to this on the record, and begins the sudden downfall of the remainder of the LP. The same can be said for “In God’s Hands”, a slow ballad somehow trying to hold on to that last vestige of adult contemporary radio listeners. Timbaland checks back in on the “Lucky Star” inspired “Do It”, where Nelly does her best 80′s Madonna impression, and follows up with a pair of snoozers on both “Wait For You” and “All Good Things” (feat. Chris Martin of Coldplay). Nothing wrong with slow songs, but Timbaland pulled them off much better on Justin’s album. 

     And the mere mention of Mr. Timberlake might be poison to the ears of Ms. Furtado, as he completely stole her thunder with the release of Futuresex/Lovesounds. Regardless, this album starts off with the same amount of scary Timberland produced consistency as the Timberlake LP, but falls short in it’s second half.