Furtado Top-Notch In 'Loose'

Nelly Furtado just can't settle down with one sound.

The Canadian songbird was breezy, eclectic pop on her multiplatinum debut, "Whoa, Nelly," then went for more acoustic grooves on her less-successful follow-up, "Folklore."

Now back with her third CD, "Loose," Furtado doesn't just switch to another sound, but hopscotches through a myriad of different genres, from trip-hop to '80s synth pop to Latin pop to R&B pillow ballads.

With another singer, this approach could sound muddled, like a performer trying find a new identity at the expense of the listener. But Furtado — with her light, airy vocals — adapts to the changing musical landscape superbly, proving her best skill is not as a singer, but as a chameleon.

Though the first single, "Promiscuous," features the heavy influence of Timbaland, with its bubbling hip-hop groove, the rapper and producer — who is an executive producer on the album and co-wrote many of its tracks, along with Furtado — surprisingly doesn't dominate on this disc. Instead, he and Furtado make a great team, showing Timbaland's dexterity and range as a producer and songwriter.

The pair, along with other writers, create a spacey-disco beat for the self-confidence booster "Afraid," then switch to a heavily synthesized dance rock track for the saucy "Maneater." "Showtime" sounds like a lost TLC tune, with its soft, romantic feel, while fiery "No Hay Igual" is a riveting mix of African drumming, Spanish rap and a foreboding, synthesized background.

Furtado slows things down a bit with her collaboration with Colombian rocker Juanes on the midtempo, guitar-centered bilingual track, "Te Busque." But the heat remains — instead of boiling over, it just simmers.

After a full listen to "Loose," it will be even harder to classify Furtado's sound. But artistically speaking, it's easy to categorize — just look under top-notch albums.

Nekesa Mumbi Moody