Stephen Thompson | May 24, 2024
Nelly Furtado’s career has spanned a quarter-century, not to mention tens of millions of records sold, so it’s tough to fit all the highlights into a single Tiny Desk concert. But damned if Furtado didn’t at least try: Her set featured a bunch of her biggest hits (“Promiscuous,” “Say It Right,” “I’m Like A Bird,” “Maneater”), her remix of Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” and, yes, a brand-new single called “Love Bites.” In all, 11 tracks - some of them complete, some of them truncated into medleys - made the cut.
For this set, Furtado assembled eight of her favorite veteran collaborators, who joined her in organically re-creating her busy, glitchy pop sound without relying on backing tracks. That meant incorporating everything from a violin to cowbell to beatboxing to scratching courtesy of DJ Lil Jaz - Furtado and Lil Jaz have a daughter together, Nevis, who served as the set’s creative director - in a performance that felt like a victory lap, a greatest-hits reel and a homecoming all at once.
SET LIST
“Say It Right”
“Explode”
“Powerless (Say What You Want)”
“Promiscuous”
“All Good Things (Come To An End)”
“I'm Like A Bird”
“Get Ur Freak On (Remix)”
“Love Bites”
“Eat Your Man”
“Give It To Me”
“Maneater”
MUSICIANS
Nelly Furtado: lead vocals
Hrag Sanbalian: keys, musical direction
Daniel Stone: percussion
William Lamoureux: violin
Brian West: guitar
Lionel Jarvis: bass
Jim Beanz: vocals
Anjulie Persaud: vocals
DJ Lil’ Jaz: DJ
TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Bobby Carter
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Neil Tevault
Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Alanté Serene
Audio Engineer: Carleigh Strange
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Michael Zamora
Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
#tinydesk #nprmusic #nellyfurtado