Nelly Furtado’s upcoming third single from The Spirit Indestructible is Parking Lot. Nelly performed the track a few weeks ago during her AOL Sessions. I’ve had that version on repeat ever since. Each song that is premiered from this album is better than the last and it’s shaping up to be an extremely good collection of songs, all of which, aren’t trying to sound like anything else out there at the moment.

Parking Lot in studio form is a lot different to the live version. It’s a slower tempo for one. But the huge difference is the vocals. Nelly actually sounds like she was drunk when she recorded them, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Her vocals sound a bit out of tune even though it was intentionally meant to sound that way.

Like Big Hoops, lyrically the song is a throwback to Nelly’s teenage years. It’s simply about being carefree, driving around with friends and blasting music with nothing to do. In the live version, some of the lyrics are delivered with more emphasis which is really lacking in the studio version.

Production wise, Parking Lot sounds a bit unfinished. Big Hoops and Spirit Indestructible gave me this impression as well. But at times, the rawness of the tracks is what makes them refreshing compared to all the polished, over-produced dance music controlling the charts at the moment. This is also the reason Nelly’s singles so far from this campaign have flopped badly.

You can listen to Parking Lot’s radio edit below:

The live version is below to compare it to:

Overall, Parking Lot is a great song and I’m excited that it’s being released as the third single. It may not save the album campaign from commercially failing, but it’ll be another great song to add to Nelly’s impressive back catalogue. After hearing these three singles, I can’t wait to hear the rest of the album.