Nelly Furtado

It stands to reason that gold and multiplatinum certifications (for 2003's Folklore and 2000's Whoa, Nelly!, respectively), a pair of Top 10 singles ("I'm Like a Bird" and "Turn Off the Light"), and a Grammy Award (for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance), to name just a few accomplishments, would afford a certain level of confidence. But nothing has inspired Furtado to throw caution to the wind more than motherhood. "Motherhood makes you fearless," she says. "The album is very youthful-sounding," Furtado continues, "and I think that's partly due to the presence of this two-year-old in my life. I was with her all day every day and then I'd go to the studio at night, and I think that translated into a playful energy I feel onstage but that hasn't really been heard on my records."

Starting with her longtime production team of Track & Field, she also knew she wanted to check out a variety of producers. "Working with new producers," she hazards, "is like trying on new clothes - you never know what you look good in until you try it on. And sometimes they will see something in you that neither you nor anyone else could see." So she traveled with her daughter from Toronto to London to work with NELLEE HOOPER; to Los Angeles to work with LESTER MENDEZ (who produced, "Te Busque," her moving duet with JUANES) and RICK NOWELS (co-writer and producer of the gorgeous ballad "In God's Hands"); and to Miami to work with PHARRELL WILLIAMS and SCOTT STORCH and finally, TIMBALAND.