Nelly Furtado says her ADHD was her 'superpower' when making new album
Nelly Furtado shared one way she was able to capture her creativity and productivity as she worked on her seventh studio album.
Speaking with TODAY.com on Thursday, the day she announced upcoming album “7” was set to drop on Sept. 20, Furtado says she used her ADHD to her advantage while making the record.
“I always credit my ADHD because it can be so debilitating in your home life, but when you’re in your creative life, at work — for me — it’s amazing,” she says. “It’s like a superpower.”
Furtado, 45, says she wanted to have a “festive process” while making the album, so she was able to bring “as many friends and collaborators by the studio at all hours of the night.”
“I can be like, OK — 500 songs, three rooms, 15 people making music with me, today! And to me it’s like, normal,” she says.
Furtado shares that she worked on the record across multiple continents with as many people that she could get together. For example, the album’s lead single “Corazon” was created in Colombia with Bomba Estéreo, she says.
“Naturally, through this festive environment, I have more and more people in the studio listening to the songs, and I think just naturally, the cream rises to the top, and then you’re like, ‘Oh, I feel more passionate about finishing this.’”
The “Maneater” singer’s latest album features 14 tracks, which Furtado explained in an Instagram post she whittled down from 400 to 500 songs she made over the past four years.
“My ADHD doesn’t always allow for me to organize creations in a methodical way, so it’s hard to explain how we have chosen 14 songs that magically rose to the top of the heap,” she said in the post.
When asked how the songs ended up tying together on the album, Furtado compared the process to picking her favorite flowers.
“You know, right at the door as you go walk into a flower shop — what draws you to those flowers? There’s something.”
Furtado first shared her ADHD diagnosis in 2023 in an interview with Fault Magazine, in which she said she had been diagnosed with inattentive ADHD about 18 months prior.
“I believe I’ve had it my whole life, but playing instruments six days a week as a kid kept me in check,” Furtado told the magazine.
Inattentive ADHD is a type of ADHD when a person has difficulty concentrating, focusing on a task and staying organized, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Furtado said that she had turned to dance and choreography “as a natural way of dealing” with her ADHD, adding that “the discipline really helps my brain.”
“I think it was probably a blessing that they didn’t know until now,” Furtado said of being diagnosed later in life. “I think I’m mature enough now to not be overly dramatic about it and just deal with it and find solutions rather than dwell on the emotional side of it.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
