Folklore (album)

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Folklore
Studio album by Nelly Furtado
Released	November 25, 2003
Recorded	The Gymnasium and 4th Street Recordings (Santa Monica, California); Metalworks Studios (Mississauga, Ontario); Left Brain Studios and 1st Congregational Church (L.A., California)
Genre	Folk Pop
Length	50:36
Label	DreamWorks
Producer(s)	Track & Field, Nelly Furtado, Lil' Jaz, Jacques Morelenbaum
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone link
Nelly Furtado chronology
Whoa, Nelly! (2000)	Folklore (2003)	Loose (2006)

Folklore is the second album by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, released by DreamWorks Records in the United States on November 25, 2003 (see 2003 in music).

[edit] Production and release

The album's title was influenced by Furtado's parents' immigration to Canada, "when I look at my old photo albums, I see pictures of their brand-new house, their shiny new car, their first experiences going to very North American-type places like Kmart. When you have that in your blood, you never really part with it—it becomes your own personal folklore."^[1] The album also displayed a diverse sound but with a more rock-oriented, acoustic approach.^[2] As she focused more on the songwriting rather "than on frenetically switching genres five times in one song",^[1] BBC felt that it had "twice the originality" of her debut.^[3] Furtado attributed the mellowness of the album to the fact that she was pregnant during most of its recording.^[1] The final track on the album, "Childhood Dreams", is dedicated to her daughter.

Folklore includes the single "Força" (meaning "strength" or "carry on" in Portuguese), which was written as the official anthem of the 2004 European Football Championship. Furtado performed the song at the championship's final in Lisbon, Portugal in July 2004.^[4] Other singles included the ballad "Try" and "Powerless (Say What You Want)", in which she embraces her Portuguese heritage; the song deals with "the idea that you can still feel like a minority inside, even if you don't look like one on the outside".^[1] Additional singles were released in certain territories; "Explode" in Canada and Europe, and "The Grass Is Green" in Germany. The radically altered edits of "Try" and "Força" released to radio stations do not appear on the album, nor does the Spanish single version of "Powerless (Say What You Want)" featuring Juanes.

The album debuted at number eighteen on the Canadian albums chart with first-week sales of 10,400,^[5] and at number thirty-eight on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 68,000 in its first week.^[6] According to Nielsen SoundScan, it had sold 416,000 copies in the U.S. by January 2007.^[7] It was not as successful as Furtado's debut album, Whoa, Nelly! (2000), partly because of troubles at DreamWorks Records and the less poppy sound.^[3] It lacked promotion because DreamWorks was sold to Universal Music Group at the time of Folkore's release, and it spent only eleven weeks on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. In 2005 DreamWorks Records was shut down, and many of its artists, including Furtado, were absorbed into Geffen Records.^[8] An enhanced CD, Folklore sold two million copies worldwide^[9] and was most successful in Germany. Furtado said, "Why do Germans love this album? I think I figured it out: It's so cerebral. It's great in its own way, but that's a different side."^[10]

[edit] Track listing

1. "One-Trick Pony" (Gerald Eaton, Nelly Furtado, Brian West) – 4:47
2. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Anne Dudley, Eaton, Furtado, Trevor Horn, Malcolm McLaren, West) – 3:52
   • Samples Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals"
3. "Explode" (Eaton, Furtado) – 3:44
4. "Try" (Furtado, West) – 4:39
5. "Fresh off the Boat" (Eaton, Furtado, West) – 3:16
6. "Força" (Eaton, Furtado, West) – 3:40
7. "The Grass Is Green" (Mike Elizondo, Furtado) – 3:50
8. "Picture Perfect" (Eaton, Furtado, West) – 5:16
9. "Saturdays" (Furtado) – 2:05
10. "Build You Up" (Eaton, Furtado, West) – 4:58
11. "Island of Wonder" (S. Diaz, Furtado, J. Gahunia) – 3:49
    • Samples Caetano Veloso's "Tonada De Luna Llena" and features new vocal recordings by Veloso
12. "Childhood Dreams" (Eaton, Furtado, West) – 6:35

UK bonus tracks

• 13. "Try" (acoustic version)
• 14. CD-ROM video footage

Japanese bonus tracks

• 13. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (alternative acoustic mix)
• 14. "Try" (acoustic version)

Latin American re-issue

• 13. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" featuring Juanes

[edit] Singles

• "Powerless (Say What You Want)"
• "Try"
• "Força"
• "Explode"
• "The Grass is Green" (Germany Only)

[edit] Sales and certifications

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Interview: Nelly Furtado. Interview. Retrieved on 29 May 2006.
2. ^ Folklore. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 28 May 2006.
3. ^ ^{a b} Folklore. BBC. Retrieved on 28 May 2006.
4. ^ Nelly Furtado Gets Her Kicks. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 9 December 2005.
5. ^ Williams, John. "New Furtado stumbles on chart". Jam! Showbiz. December 12, 2003. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
6. ^ Dansby, Andrew. "Jay-Z Bounces Britney". Rolling Stone. December 3, 2003. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
7. ^ Caulfield, Keith. "Ask Billboard - 'Loose' Change". Billboard. January 26, 2007. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
8. ^ Universal Music Snags DreamWorks Records. Blogcritics.org. Retrieved on 29 May 2006.
9. ^ Pattenden, Mike. "The big cd - Nelly Furtado". The Times. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
10. ^ Anderson, Jason. "Bustin' Loose". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. June 20, 2006. Retrieved September 18, 2006.
11. ^ Switzerland certification. [1]. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
12. ^ Brazil sales. [2]. Retrieved September 24, 2006.

[edit] References