 |
Furtado has four shows this week in the Toronto area, including Thursday-Friday concerts at Massey Hall. (The others are tonight at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton and Saturday night in Barrie, where her tour concludes.)
The Victoria, B.C., native told The Sun in a recent interview that this is her dream road trip.
"It's a higher level of production -- more fancy stuff. You know, the music is improved," said Furtado, who plays for about an hour and a half at her concerts. "It kind of feels like the tour that I probably dreamed of when I wrote the record, 'cause when I made this record my point of reference was, 'What is this going to sound like live?' I always thought about the live show."
After this week, Furtado will begin to think more about a followup album, which she'll probably begin to record by the end of the summer.
Furtado already has collaborated in the studio with Philadelphia outfit The Roots and Colombian artist Juanez, and she has expressed a desire to work again "at least partially" with Track And Field -- the Toronto-based producers (real names, Gerald Eaton and Brian West) who co-produced her acclaimed 2000 debut, Whoa, Nelly!
Also on her producer wishlist are Timbaland and Dan The Automator, who did a remix of her latest single, On The Radio (Remember The Days).
"I'd anticipate an album next spring or summer," Furtado told The Sun. "And, as usual, I'll play a big role in the production."
In February, Furtado picked up a Grammy Award for best female pop vocal performance for her breakthrough hit, I'm Like A Bird. She was asked backstage about the intensifying battle between artists and labels.
"Times are changing, for sure," said Furtado, who was signed directly to Dreamworks in the U.S. "I think definitely the days of the sort of naive artist are long gone. People are more empowered. We have more access to more information. More and more record deals are (being) changed and altered. We have more power. That's a positive thing."
Yet Furtado pointed out there are good people at labels to deal with, given the success of her album, Whoa, Nelly!, which was by no means a mainstream record at the get-go. It took months for it to break into the U.S. market, but since then has sold four million copies worldwide.
"There are people around who believe in artistic integrity and believe that good music will find its way," she said. "(From) a Dave Matthews to a Sarah McLachlan to a band like OutKast, it's all about touring, developing a fan base, making music from your heart, writing songs. Basically, if you do good work, the success will follow eventually. Eventually being the key word."