Nelly Furtado releases album in collaboration with her daughter, Nevis, after 7 years

Nelly Furtado, owner of hits like Promiscuous and Maneater, is back on the music scene with the album 7his first album in seven years, and which has a difference: a special partnership with his 21-year-old daughter, Nevis Gahunia. The process of creating this album was an important link in the relationship between the two, who spent most of the last four years writing and recording together in a studio in Toronto.

The singer, who had stepped away from the spotlight to focus on her children, told PEOPLEthat the collaboration with Nevis was something magical from the beginning.

I asked, ‘Nevis, do you want to come to the studio with me?’ She sat next to me, and it was like magic. Between a parent and a child, you need something to connect them, and interestingly enough, for us, that was music.

The new album is the result of a long composition process. Nelly wrote between 200 and 300 songs, 14 of which were selected for the final album.

I was given this opportunity to connect with my teenager in this way. It just felt like the greatest gift in the world. What a blessing.

The collaboration on the new album, which included the co-writing of four songs — Showstopper, Heart, fantasyand Take Me Down —, in addition to Nevis’ contribution to mixing, sequencing and backing vocals, it brought a new dynamic to the relationship between mother and daughter.

Upon resuming musical production with 7the singer said she realized that her daughter had never seen her work up close.

She was born two months before my second album, Folklorebeing released in 2003, and was on the road with me from newborn until I was 4 years old.

[Atualmente]in the car, I always ask, ‘What is that? Who’s singing?’ She has incredible taste in music. She’s my favorite person to talk about music and pop culture.

According to Nevis, who will graduate in December from New YorkUniversity in Arts, working alongside her mother was a process of discovery. “I was just an observer, taking in as much as I could.,” it says. She highlights that being treated as a colleague in this environment was a special experience, strengthening mutual respect and understanding between the two:

This definitely brought us closer together,” adds Nevis.

Nelly Furtado’s new phase as a mother and artist also makes her think about other mothers in the music industry.

I want to call all those other moms who are pop singers: ‘Can we start a WhatsApp group?’ I can really relate to Shakiraraising her kids while on tour, doing it all as a single mom.

The singer’s new album is now available on digital platforms.