Nelly Furtado: Loose

Herald rating: * * *

Whoa, Nelly. What happened to the girl who just wanted to fly like a bird? Mention the word fly these days and it's more likely to relate to the buttons on a man's jeans. Perhaps she just wanted to get pregnant again so she penned hits like Promiscuous and Maneater and named her album after the fit of her maternity wear on her newly sculpted body.

She probably doesn't want her 3-year-old to know, but on her third album - after 2000's breakthrough album Whoa, Nelly! and 2003's drowsy Folklore - Furtado is reclaiming her pop tart status.

Producer Timbaland suits her hormonal state of mind, injecting Loose with tribal drums and futuristic electro effects. Updating her sound means sometimes it doesn't sound like her at all.

On the plus side, she's toned down her nasal whine, and even raps on Promiscuous. No Hay Igual, a bump'n'grind party tune sung in her native Portuguese, could just as easily be a jumped-up M.I.A. And she strikes just the right balance of catchy pop and brazen flamenco on Somebody to Love.

It's a thoughtful departure, even if part of her soul has been stripped away. If the songs were more memorable that wouldn't matter so much.

Verdict: Furtado sexes things up but loses a piece of herself in the process

Label: Geffen