Rating – 3 1/2 stars out of 5
Well, I am back finally with another review. Sorry for the long absence, this last project was extremely difficult and I literally had no time to eat and sleep, never mind anything of an extracurricular nature. I should be off of it in a week or two, but a little sliver of time has opened up for me to crank out a review.
Apparently the second half of 2024 is the time for new music as I’m seeing quite a few things I’m interested in including some new Kylie, Tears for Fears, and even Beth Hart will have CDs out in the next couple of months. However, this particular review marks the return of someone I greatly appreciate in the world of music, Nelly Furtado. She has not been seen since her last record, The Ride which was produced in 2017. So it’s only fitting that seven years later for her seventh album, Nelly has decided to name this album, 7. Let’s take a listen.
Since The Ride in 2017, Nelly Furtado has stayed busy with some of her older music including doing expanded editions of her albums, Whoa Nelly! & Loose and releasing them to streaming and digital platforms. In 2022, she started performing again on stage and teased plenty of new music on tap for the years to come. Of particular note, she did a collaboration with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland in 2023 called Keep Going Up. Unfortunately, that single is only available digitally at the moment unless you are willing to purchase one of those Now! That’s What I Call Music CDs, I think it’s number 116.
In May of 2023, Nelly Furtado came out and said she had dozens upon dozens of new songs that she had written. She further mentioned that her songs weren’t really organized (due to her ADHD) and this album is merely the collection of fourteen songs that rose to the top of the heap. I kinda like and respect that honesty. Too often, you have artists who are trying to drive home some grand message or theme in an album, but in reality all we want is a good album with music we enjoy listening to.
Track 1: Showstopper (2:29) – The first song is very strong out of the gate, has a good beat and is importantly fun. It moves incredibly well, and has zero time for lag as indicated by its run length. Nelly writes this one with Ebony Oshunrinde, also known as WondaGurl. It has a wonderful flow and is one of the standouts on the album.
Track 2: Corazon (2:37) – The second official single, released prior to the album in July is reaching back to her Latin roots and does this with help from Liliana Saumet and Lido Pimienta. The song had actually been performed at concerts dating back to 2023 in different forms, but is performed in full here. Fantastic song that will make you dance and sing along instantly.
This is one of three songs that has also received the visualizer treatment on this album which I’m not really a fan of but does the job and shows some images of Nelly from her concerts and performances from the last year or so. As expected, she looks fantastic.
Track 3: Love Bites (2:47) – Tove Lo and SG Lewis provide the support on this standout single that is really the cornerstone of the album. It’s a dance anthem and has the kind of catchy tune that makes it a solid hit. It’s also one of quite a few songs on this album that talks about break up and heartbreak.
Another visualizer on this song, a little more on the racy side with Nelly morphing into Tove Lo and then back again with the sultry dancing as accompaniment. This song has received a lot of airplay over here in the US hitting a couple of different dance charts. Of particular interest, there is an excellent Don Diablo mix that I wish was also on this album as a bonus (it’s not even on the 7″ Vinyl single either). There was certainly room for it if nothing else.
Track 4: Better for Worse (3:24) – A very harsh song about breakup and even drops a few F bombs along the way. Gray Hawken provides the background vocals (and a quick lyric or two) on this one. Another excellent and mellow song about how people often do not take their vows to heart and hurt the ones they supposedly love along the way.
Track 5: Honesty (2:17) – Another slice of good beats here. It moves quickly as the runtime suggests and also has some help again from SG Lewis. I really like the song and enjoy the high parts and how it crashes into the chorus. It needs more depth though, perhaps a breakdown or something.
This is the third song to get the visualizer treatment, and is probably the least effective of the three. Nelly is trapped in a white box and the screen constantly swirls around her. The lip sync doesn’t even come close to matching up either.
Track 6: Floodgate (2:07) – The first time we have gotten a slower song on this album and calls back to Nelly’s first couple of albums. If ever a song needed more length, this one is practically slapping us in the face with it. A bridge, outro, so many things this song could have benefitted from. Wasted potential all over the place, but if you were looking for something that was like I’m Like a Bird, this is certainly it.
Track 7: Crown (2:47) – This song features Blxckie and I’m sad to report is my least favorite song on the album. The lyric “With Those Eyes” bugs me to no end and I’m not entirely sure why. Nelly’s voice is certainly beautiful and angelic, but it never resonates for me. Let’s move on.
Track 8: All Comes Back (3:14) – We bust out the piano for this one as Charlotte Day Wilson provides additional vocals and writing credits. It’s a very nice song and really showcases Nelly’s voice. The only issue I might have with this one is that it isn’t 100% piano as there are some supporting electronic sounds and they don’t really add anything.
Track 9: Save Your Breath (3:00) – From the outset, Nelly announces this is a community recording and she isn’t kidding. A lot of help here from Williane 108, Charmie, Taborah Johnson and Tynomi Banks. This one is a ton of fun with the trademark line being “How Many Times Did You Throw Me Under the Bus?” The mock “spit” is also an interesting choice making it instantly memorable.
It’s another up-tempo break up song. If you are curious at the fever of these type of songs in the album, well in between Ride and this album, she had two children by rapper Hodgy in this time period. Unfortunately in July of 2023, she also announced she was once again single. Despite the rough relationship status, we do get some pretty amazing music at least.
Track 10: Ready for Myself (3:04) – This one channels Miley’s Flowers and Kylie’s stylings. This is a very fun pop song. Again, Nelly is alluding to the fact that she is happy to be single and not afraid to sing about it. Honestly, this shouldn’t have been buried in the track order, and is the most underrated tune on the album.
Track 11: Fantasy (2:08) – The electronic pacing is turned up quite a bit here and this is another fun club type tune. Still very strong, but the lack of length really hurts this one because it never gets going and then it’s done in a flash.
Track 12: Better than Ever (2:12) – Back to the piano with another short tune but this one isn’t quite as good as “All Comes Back”. Not to mention that Better than Ever is repeated about twenty times which in a two minute song is quite a lot.
Track 13: Take Me Down (2:28) – A yodel starts off this one and we are back with another straight pop song. The odd thing about this particular tune is there aren’t much lyrics to it which is weird when it is only two and a half minutes. Most of the time is spent in the music with Nelly coming in with a few lyrics where necessary but nothing stands out.
Track 14: Untitled (2:55) – One last time with the piano which is not the way I’m sure I would have finished out the album with. Mostly because I am not a fan of using “Untitled” when it obviously could have been given one like “Gotta Let Go Sometimes”. The song also goes out with a whimper rather than a bang. Again, I think I would have put the Don Diablo mix of “Love Bites” at the end here but what do I know?
I can’t mention the album without talking about the cd inside booklet & art which is probably one of the best I’ve seen recently (another thing that’s often overlooked in this day and age when it comes to physical media). Sliding past the fact that Nelly looks amazing at a tender age of 45, it is actually quite a clever booklet with various types of price and previously viewed stickers strategically placed over certain “ahem” places. Even though it looks like they might, they do not in fact come off.
Maybe others have had a different experience but one of the things I have noticed is the complete lack of radio support this album has received in the US. I have seen “Love Bites” a few times on SiriusXM but none of the other music. I’m more likely to get Promiscuous on the radio than anything off this album. 7 has done considerably better in other countries thankfully and I have to believe that as far as domestic audiences are concerned, they are more interested with Nelly getting back musically with Timbaland (and JT?) than anything else.
Overall, this is a very good album, the first half of the album really shines and there is a lot to like. Love Bites and Showstopper are probably my favorites. Unfortunately, the second half of the album minus Save Your Breath and Ready for Myself feel like album fodder and will probably be forgotten in another six months. Another issue with this album is the run time which clocks in about 37 minutes over 14 tracks. For the people at home, that’s about 2 1/2 minutes per song. Floodgate, Fantasy and Take Me Down are wonderful examples of songs that could have benefitted from a little more time, a little more fleshing out into a stronger song. Recommended, but mostly for fans of Nelly Furtado. It’s certainly her best album since Loose, but there is much room for improvement. Enjoy.
