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
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