ONE-TRICK PONY: I’m inspired by words and phrases. The night I wrote this, my head had just hit the pillow, but then I got up and wrote all the lyrics for this song. I’m just saying I’m not a one-trick pony, and that I don’t want to be pigeonholed. The music is splendid. The banjo makes an appearance, and it’s mixed with this hip-hoppy groove. There’s a funkiness to its rhythm that makes it feel very modern. This song reminds me of the America hit “A Horse With No Name.” It’s abstract in that way, where I’m more painting broad strokes than being exact with the words. The Kronos Quartet plays on this – a whole string arrangement that’s so insane. We sent the song to them, then they sent it back to us with the arrangement, and we were blown away.
POWERLESS (SAY WHAT YOU WANT): I get to see a lot of DJ-oriented performance stuff, and I’m into the heaviness of breakbeats, how raw and powerful they are. Everything lately has become so synthesised, but just the standard sound of breakbeats is inspiring. “Powerless” uses breakbeats like that; it’s a real groove, a real vibe. It just carries you away. There’s a banjo mixed with a breakbeat from Malcolm McLaren’s “Buffalo Gals.” So right away you’re bobbing your head. The lyrics are initially in-your-face, like, “Okay, I know I’m going to be stereotyped in my life because that is the world we live in; that’s society.” But the song tries to find some sense of order in this complicated world.
EXPLODE: This song came from a poem I wrote called “Teenage Waste.” When you’re a teenager, you want to try everything; you’re like a little firework. Your wiser self is there, somewhere deep down, depending on how young or old your soul is. But it doesn’t always show itself. “Explode” is visceral; it’s guttural. That’s why part of the song uses terms from Capoeira, the Brazilian martial arts form. It touches on teenage experimentation and bliss and fun, but also on some violence and aggression.
TRY: This is about the reality of love. My energy used to just go everywhere, but now I’m more grounded because I’ve found true love. The idea here is that, yeah, sometimes life sucks. But life is only so long, and somebody can come along who makes you want to be a better person. You just have to roll with the punches. So “Try” is not a happy-go-lucky song. It has a strange arrangement because the chorus happens only twice, and the end is improvisational. It’s like one of those epic power ballads.
FRESH OFF THE BOAT: I love the idea of taking back phrases. “Fresh off the boat” is a slang expression describing an immigrant. It gets thrown around a lot and not usually as a compliment. But I wanted to take the negative out of that and turn it into something positive. There’s so much beauty in the humility and modesty that derive from being an immigrant family, coming to the New World for the first time. And it never ends because you go back to the Old World at some point and then return to your adopted country. You take something and bring it back, and it becomes a big jumble. I relate to that idea very strongly. It’s what this song and the whole album are about.
FORÇA: When I was touring in Portugal, people would frequently say goodbye to me by saying “Força,” which is Portuguese slang. It translates as “Keep going,” or “Kick ass.” It’s also associated with sports, especially football (soccer). I put a feminine twist on the idea of how you feel when you’re watching your favourite team. When you tie that into nationality, it becomes pretty intense. So this is a happy song, a burst of energy. Plus, we have (banjoist) Béla Fleck playing on the song. His contribution here is amazing.
THE GRASS IS GREEN: This plays around with the idea of wanting what you can’t have, or wanting what’s on the other side, something you dream of. And then you finally touch it, but, oh, no! It’s too late; it’s changed. There are also themes of deception and mistrust, but I prefer to express that kind of world-weariness with a light touch. The music has an understated hip-hop thing going on; the groove just chugs along, with simple instrumentation.
PICTURE PERFECT: When you look through old photo albums, the pictures can feel so fresh and new. There seems to be so much hope in there. The experience can call up another time, something magical and mystical. This song is about the idea of idealism. It reflects the immigrant theme that runs throughout the album. The imagery is very vivid, like a poem. The instrumentation is chilled-out and organic. There’s a lot of mellow, bluesy, Jimi Hendrix-type guitar, like in “Waterfalls” or “Little Wing.” There’s a subtle psychedelic vibe to it, and the way it builds is really beautiful.
SATURDAYS: This originated from a poem I wrote called “Saturdays.” It’s really folky, mostly just voice and guitar. It’s a little Johnny Cash-esque, but the 24-year-old girl version. The song is about how I used to spend my Saturdays cleaning the rooms at the Robin Hood Motel in Victoria, British Columbia, where I grew up. On the third floor, there was a tar-like flat roof, and when I had a break, I’d grab a Diet Coke and sit there and wait for my mother, who ran the housekeeping services. I’d look over the site, dreaming about my future as a musician. I wrapped up a lot of hours dreaming there.
ISLAND OF WONDER: At one point I’d just come off the road and wasn’t feeling very inspired. I was talking to my mom on the phone. She said, “What do you mean you’re not inspired?” I said, “I guess I just don’t know what to write about anymore.” That summer my family and I had taken one of our trips to The Azores (the island chain off the coast of Portugal where Furtado’s parents were born). She said, “Why don’t you write a song called ‘Island Of Wonder?’” Right then it hit me – it was the most absurd idea, but I knew that song would be on my album. Our DJ, Lil‘ Jaz, had started producing stuff, and I collaborated with him on this. He worked up this sample from Caetano Veloso, from the song “Tonada De Luna Llena,” from his album Fina Estampa. He is my musical idol. And then Caetano ended up singing a new vocal for the song! It’s pretty cool that his sample is on it and he’s singing as well. I still can’t believe it.
CHILDHOOD DREAMS: This song is about the renewing quality of true love. It was recorded in a church adjacent to The Pilgrim School, in Los Angeles, which has this massive organ that extends throughout the church, with thousands of pipes and tubes and valves. We went in with a bass player, a guitar player, a vibraphone player and a harp player. You cannot match the reverb you get, this natural, hollow reverb. We took it all the way; we did the full-on spiritualised organ intro. There’s a really cool vocal round at the end, playing on the theme of childhood dreams. It’s in 6/8 time, very lilting. Also toward the end, we added tabla, which takes the song to a more universal place. It’s a super-ballad. Organ bells, church bells, wedding bells, chimes, tablas – the whole thing is magical.
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