Like you, I was not familiar with any of the Fifth Harmony girls as individuals and very little as a group. Not a fan, but some of their hits have catchy and cool, almost soul-y vibe. However, when Camila Cabello left the group, she was brought to my attention. I´ve been keeping an eye out for her since she began testing the solo waters in early 2017 and, just as I said in another post in the MB Forums, I´m confident she´ll be part of the big 'pop girls' sector of pop in the next decade, like Lady GaGa and Katy Perry ( just to name the biggest ) were for the 2010s. These two actually emerged at the tail end of the 2000s with big hits just like Camila did with Havana last year. My suspicions were confirmed when she released Havana, I instantly said in my mind "This is what will make her huge". And I was right. Now, her debut is out and it will be important for the next few years. This record will begin a trend of Latin-influenced pop that will last for a couple of years, and there will be an increase on the diversity of mainstream stars, many latinos will dominate the scene thanks to the sound of Camila album.
As a record, it exceeded my expectations. Never Be the Same is my favorite Cabello song without a doubt, it´s just pop done well. A terrific track, definitely takes the top spot here. Havana comes second, and if I end up meeting Cabello at an event in March, the first question I´ll ask is who came up with the piano riff because it is freaking amazing as hell. I could loop that piano and have it as an instrumental. Again, it gives such a warm, cool and confident Latino vibe. Real Friends and In the Dark are good tracks, and She Loves Control has her best vocal performance on the album. However, the instrumentation is very reggeaton-ish which turns me off since I detest that genre.
Camila is a confident debut for a confident artist, and aside from a capacity for lyrical improvement and my personal rejection of reggaeton, Cabello gives great vocals and cool latino instrumentations. Hope she continues to improve and produce quality tracks!
7 out of 10
|