The Ride (Nelly Furtado)

EN "The Ride” is the sixth album by Nelly Furtado, released on March 31, 2017, by Furtado's own label, Nelstar Music, and the second album released independently, after “My Plan” (2009). “The Ride” is a sort of journey of the artist over 12 tracks (or even 15 tracks if we count on the exclusive tracks of the vinyl version) that serve as a healing for a broken heart. Its sound ends up diverging between the wave of the 80s, as in “E•MO•TION” by Carly Rae Jepsen, with a bit of indie/folk of “Fearless" from Taylor Swift, even going through a more alternative wave, choosing John Congleton, producer of St. Vincent, as the executive producer of the album, giving rise to a combination made in paradise, an album that knows how to swing between indie and electronic style.

Despite her own statement that the album was not meant to have singles and that instead she would release songs she wanted to share, "which are twelve", the album was promoted through five tracks: “Pipe Dreams", "Cold Hard Truth", "Flatline", "Phoenix" e "Sticks and Stones". The album's opening track, “Cold Hard Truth”, which is one of my favorites of the project, presents us with strong beats, with seductive vocals and some synthesizers, through an electro/pop style, and I'm sure it would be a much more popular song if it had been presented by some fashionable pop stars at the time, having a brilliant chorus. “Flatline” has a similar sound but, in vocal terms, the artist stands out in the chorus, exalting the need to find love and be saved, and these two tracks end up defining, in a perfect way, the mood for the album. Then comes the cover of Arlissa, "Sticks and Stones", which provides a direct and exemplary pop production, exhibiting all the dynamism of the singer and of “The Ride" itself, moving effortlessly from the synths of the single “Pipe Dreams” to the contained and devastating “Phoenix”, in which Furtado shows that she has acquired even greater control of the upper register of her unusual vocal style.

It is not strange that the album “The Ride" is probably her most personal and mature work, because the album began to come to life due to an extremely difficult phase of the artist's life, and the first track composed for the project, "Phoenix” turns out to be an allegory to this, about a person re-rising after a fall, and the whole process of designing the album helped in the search for healing. It all reflects on the ability to get back on track, to learn to deal with being alone and to look very cautiously at what lies ahead, while gradually leaving the past behind.

“The Ride" is a hymn to freedom, to leave something behind and move on, as she herself refers to in the song "Palaces": "Break free from the chains, Into love” celebrating the most important thing we have in the world, love. It is a fact that the album did not achieve the expected success, and probably the singer already knew this, but she seems comfortable with her position in the pop industry and her passion for music can be heard in every minute of the album. She is already at a stage in her life where she no longer needs to prove anything to anyone, she has already had her talent immensely recognized, mostly during the “Loose” era, and we are very lucky that she still has a great ear for pop melodies and knows exactly what works for her voice, giving rise to a totally enjoyable and worthy project.

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