Nelly Furtado: 'Mi Plan'

Born in British Columbia to Portuguese parents, Nelly Furtado first sang in public in their language, performing a duet with her mother in church at the age of four... or so the story goes. Despite a return to Portuguese for the chorus of previous single 'Força' and a shift to Spanish for 'No Hay Igual', she has mainly stuck to English - the native language of pop - throughout her career. After the massive breakthrough of Whoa, Nelly!, Furtado's second album Folklore got something a mixed response from the critics and the public. While 2006's Loose and the Timbaland-produced UK number one 'Maneater' thrust her back to the top, it also attracted the snobby cry of "sell-out" from some.

Therefore, it maybe shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that she's decided to follow up that crossover success with a Latin pop LP sung entirely in Spanish. That said, half a billion people around the world speak this language, so as a brave, non-commercial statement of intent, it's not quite up there with the Super Furry Animals' Welsh-language record Mwng. Nevertheless, it's still a laudable move, and the first thing that should be mentioned is that Mi Plan (My Plan) is in no way a niche throwaway for the Latin market.

In fact, aside from the vocals and lyrics, much of the music here wouldn't sound out of place in the UK or US charts, which is both a good and bad thing. Opener and lead single 'Manos al Aire' ('Hands In The Air') is a slice of catchy pop/rock with twangy guitars, tight drums and terrific breathy vocals. The video reveals that it's a war-of-the-sexes number, while the subtitled lyrics give some credence to Furtado's claim that the Latin languages sometimes have a richer feel than English.

However, the fact that 'Manos' and several other songs feature rather Americanised production can prevent them from completely hitting the mark - sad to say, but Furtado's tunes don't always get the Spanish wallop her vocals deserve. 'Suficiénte Tiempo' is a lovely slice of dancey keyboard pop and 'Bajo Otra Luz' manages to survives its Anglopop sensibilities (the melody of the chorus even recalls that of Blur's 1993 hit 'For Tomorrow'), but the title track loses something with its needless modern effects and the likes of 'Más', 'Como Lluvia' and 'Feliz Cumpleaños' simply don't do enough to grab your attention.

The best tracks are those that fully embrace - to this Englishman's untrained ears - the Latin tradition. 'Vacación' convinces with its lashings of Spanish guitar, while 'Fuerte' successfully fuses the Latin sound with an '80s vibe and also boasts some great backing vocals from flamenco singer Concha Buika. Best of all is 'Silencio', a collaboration with Josh Groban that's one of the few moments on the album where you genuinely forget that you can't understand what's being sung. Here the gorgeous music totally transcends language, allowing you to lose yourself in the emotion.