The Singles Jukebox

“Furtado Archipelago”… rolls off the tongue well, don’t it?

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[6.29]

Juana Giaimo: In opposition to the magnificent style of The Spirit Indestructible which, as its title points out, aimed for vibrant songs full of energy, in “Islands of Me” Nelly Furtado is completely perplexed. “Islands of Me” is characterized by instability, shifting from bright moments — like those playful synths imitating her voice after the chorus — to the depth of herself. She advances carefully, not relying on a solid structure. It carries me back to my younger self, who thought that when high school would be over, I’d finally be free and I’d magically find happiness. Almost four years later, I am asking the same questions Nelly Furtado is asking this time. I picture her trying desperately to find new paths, not giving up because she owes it to herself — and because everything is better than to still keep on daydreaming — but sometimes being just too tired to continue trying, especially when you know that in the end there is only one thing you can find: islands of me.
[9]

Hannah Jocelyn: I was expecting something trend-chasing like The Veronicas’ “In My Blood,” but instead, I got something quite low-key. She sounds like she’s been paying attention to people like CRJ here, going for a slightly left-of-center pop sound, but without blatantly trying to emulate the style of other artists. Sure, the opening is a little bit unsettling, but I had no idea John Congleton produced it until the day this blurb was published. It’s bizarre that the man who produced albums for Swans and crafted that guitar sound for “Shut In” by Strand of Oaks would do something so shockingly simple.
[6]

Olivia Rafferty: The sparse, wobbly production almost seems like an intellectual parody of pop. That, combined with Furtado’s soulful delivery, makes me immediately jump to a Mozart’s Sister comparison. It’s clever, understated and weird — and by god, it grows on you.
[9]

Katie Gill: This is wonderfully weird! It’s a drum machine backing mixed with something vaguely chiptune mixed with Furtado’s detached vocals mixed with a bassline that wouldn’t surprise me if it came from Kylie Minogue. You’d think that this mess of a song wouldn’t work but weirdly, it does. It’s just a pity that Furtado’s vocals occasionally get swallowed by the electronic everything surrounding her.
[7]

Will Adams: The dark synth pulse that opens “Islands of Me” was mesmerizing, and I had fully prepared myself for a world in which Furtado went full-on hazy electro. The choppy drums and plinky major arpeggios barged in, and I awoke from my dream.
[5]

Alfred Soto: I appreciate the Jenny Lewis impersonation, the keyboard lines sound as if someone took the time to play melody lines on them, and the squelchy percussion track goes on its merry way. Too spare and eccentric to give Furtado a comeback, but I hope it attracts Shura fans.
[7]

Cassy Gress: I hate to be one of those “she changed it, now it sucks” sorts of assholes, but this is a mess. It’s Disney lyrics (“Is this the meaning of being free / When the only one on this island is me”), bad scanning (“making time FOR day DREAMin”), wobbly out-of-tune synths, sporadic distorted bass drum, and a C-Dm-Em-Dm chord progression in the chorus that reminds me of how disappointed I was when I binged on all the songs I could remember from the radio as a small kid (mid-to-late 80s) and realized how many of them were not that great. I listened to the swampy fireflies of “Turn Out the Light” so many times when I was 18 and “Maneater” still bangs. Dammit.
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