Camila Cabello - Romance


Camila Cabello
Romance
2019
Spotify

The music industry really wants you like Camila Cabello. After leaving Fifth Harmony in 2016 and going out on her own the singer has been thrust onto every red carpet, photographed at every Starbucks run and then there is the "relationship" with fellow musician Shawn Mendes that feels incredibly forced a la Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston. All the posturing, all the drama and the whole circus that is the roll out of this album could all be forgiven if it was good, however it is not. Lines like "Tell me something, but say it with your hands, slow When you touch me, paint me like a Van Gogh (Oh)" on "Living Proof" are incredibly cringe bolstered more so by her just slightly more than lifted from Ariana Grande style. That's always been the problem with Camila Cabello and her attempts at Pop. You can hear it the most when she sings the word "grace" throughout the album. Instead of hitting the R in the word, she turns it into a Y making her sound kind of like a baby. Ariana Grande used to do this a lot, I mean she still does, but at least it's hers Camila just feels like a whack imitation. I know that's harsh to say, and I wouldn't level this at someone who was actually creating their own music, but Camila is by a large a marketing plan. A modicum of fame with Fifth Harmony, high profile Boyfriend/Relationship and blamo you've got yourself a new pop star. The issue is she doesn't have the goods, period.

This doesn't all fall on her shoulders though, clearly there is an entire team behind her pushing for this mediocrity. The hit "Senorita" with her Boyfriend Shawn Mendes is catchy, but also banks on latin music's surge in popularity. Every song feels like an attempt at a hit rather than some kind of truth held within. It's the same reason Taylor Swift's recent albums have felt so hollow, instead of being honest with their emotion it's more about what is going to get this album sold. At least Taylor has a history of writing songs that mean something to her, if Camila is doing that here I sure can't hear it. On "Liar" her vocal is so autotuned it is nearly impossible to understand what she is saying at times making it sound like she is straight up mumbling her way through the track. At 14 tracks but only 46 minutes the album is somehow painfully long, but suddenly short leaving little to no lasting impression. Don't worry in case you were worried this album might be incredibly bad, fear not because it's also pretty boring. You've heard all this before, there is absolutely nothing new here to get excited about, and that's a shame.

1.0 out of 10

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