Camila Cabello - Camila

Camila Cabello - Camila (2018)

Genre: Pop, Latin Pop, R&B

Camilla Cabello of Fifth Harmony fame released her debut album in early 2018, featuring blend of Latin rhythms and pop ballads. As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I will do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade.

Look, I can see the appeal, I honestly do, but personally speaking, I don't find Camila to have that sexy of a singing voice. Her raspy vocals are rather pretty on here, I can admit, but she's not distinctive enough from a lot of other young female pop artists to get me excited. I'd already heard Havana far too many times before I listened to this record. I used to not care for it, but I eventually came around. Most of the songs on here took some time to grow on me. The one song I enjoyed right from the get-go was the opening track, Never Be The Same. There's just something so oddly satisfying about the way she hits those high notes and how she delivers the chorus. It's a shame how quickly the album's spark started to die off.

There's plenty of Latin musical fusion to be found here, thanks in part of Camila's heritage. Maybe I'm biased because I grew up in a Spanish-speaking household, but the influences here are appreciated. In Inside Out, Camila sprinkles in some Spanish lyrics, just to remind people that she's Hispanic and proud. Like most of the other songs on this record though, I found it to be lacking a bit in charm. For the record, I generally enjoyed this album for the most part. The songs here are effectively pretty and at times, even beautiful. There just seems to be a great lack of standout tracks.

Honestly, besides Never Be The Same and Havana, one of the few other songs I would pick as a standout is Real Friends, which is probably the simplest on here, musically. The most prominent output on this song is Camila's voice, which again, is quite pretty, but nothing spectacular. I was finding it increasingly more difficult to decide what I really think of this record, because while there weren't many songs that hooked me, there weren't any real stinkers on here. At the end of the day, I believe that this is one of those feel good pop records that's good for what it is, but there definitely is some room for improvement here. If Camila could somehow recreate the formula from her two biggest hits on this record, then I'd gladly like to hear the result.

B-

Favorite Tracks: Never Be The Same, Havana, Real Friends

Least Favorite Track: In The Dark