Camila Continues to Impress

Camila Cabello impresses with her debut album “Camila,” released Jan. 12.

PHOTO | Tribune News Service

Camila Cabello during the arrivals at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 12.

Camila Cabello’s debut album, modestly titled Camila, dropped Jan.12 with an array of songs, showing just how versatile she can be.

The undisputed queen of the album is the fourth track, “Havana.” Its 21 weeks spent on the Billboard Top 100 is evidence of its popularity. “Havana” also has the biggest gain in streams since its release Aug. 3 according to Billboard. “Havana” not only makes every soul who has heard it happy that the travel ban was lifted on Cuba, but has a spanish flare piggybacking on the hole left in our hearts from “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, featuring Justin Bieber.

Cabello’s Cuban heritage is shown throughout the album with saucy latin guitars appearing in both “She Loves Control” and “Real Friends.” Her multicultural background is most proudly expressed in the fifth track of the album, “Inside Out,” the includes multiple verses in Spanish and features the steel pan drum. The song starts off with a bouncy piano and then shifts seamlessly into the Spanish lyrics with island feels introduced with the steel pan drum. The effect leaves the listener swaying imagining a glistening white sand beach alive with the movement of the ocean and the beats of Cabello’s music.

The message given by each song varies significantly. Songs like “Never be the Same” and “All These Years” show the distraught lover at the loss of herself at the end of the relationship. What was really inspiring was how she portrayed heartbreak in other ways. In “Real Friends,” there is an emphasis on finding a strong support system outside of a romantic relationship and the isolation she feels without that support system. The most impactful was the eighth track, “Something’s Gotta Give.” This song was excellently crafted and the lyrics were the most moving in this song when compared to the others. Listening to her preach about how having “No reason to stay, is a good reason to go” left a feeling of total agreement and happiness that she used the song as an opportunity to put an emphasis on recognizing the signs of an oppressive relationship. “Something’s Gotta Give” is downright empowering.

There was definite movement in the album moving away from her image she gained in Fifth Harmony. Her metamorphosis from a peppy Fifth Harmony member has shifted to a more sophisticated soulful sound that could be found on any one of her songs.