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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