Fridae

"I left my heart in San Francisco with some club kids on a crowded street somewhere� and he said 'would you like to come be a part of my North American Dream?'" That line begins Trynna Finda Way and with lyrics like that I'm pretty sure Nelly Furtado has found her way with her debut Whoa, Nelly!.

Earlier this year, Furtado won four of the five Junos she was nominated for, including best single (I'm Like a Bird); best producer, along with Gerald Eaton and Brian West, (I'm Like a Bird and Turn Out the Light); best new solo artist and best songwriter. (The Junos are the Canadian equivalent of the Grammies.)

Born and raised in British Columbia, Canada by Portuguese parents, this 21-year-old hippie-chick wannabe was probably born in the wrong decade. If you don't know what I'm getting at, try listening to the album once through. It radiates with clich�s reminiscent of the period when psychedelic drugs were brain food and civil rights were on top of the list. I Will Make You Cry starts with the line, "this is not political, it's just that I demand attention when I walk into a room".

But that's not all there is to the album. It's actually a melting pot of various musical influences, from the traditional Portuguese fado arrangement on Scared Of You (which is sung half in Portuguese) to the folk-influenced Hey, Man! that sounds like something Joni Mitchell would come out with.

Of course the gem of the album (and the reason I bought it) is I'm Like A Bird, the first single off this debut. Contrary to what people might relate to, this song is not about finding love, but rather the entertaining of thoughts to leave love. The speaker knows that like a bird, she will fly away at one point even though someone is and was always there to love her.

Fiona Apple, meet your newest
challenger.