Camila Cabello - C.XOXO
by Zena Grieg
published: 19 / 12 / 2024

Label:
Polydor
Format: CD
intro
Fourth album from ex-Fifth Harmony singer Camila Cabello pooves a surreal, stand-out encounter
Following an appearance at this year’s Glastonbury, Cuban-born, Miami-raised Camilla Cabello, graduate of the American X Factor, with a successful, chart-topping career in girl band ‘Fifth Harmony’ behind her, has released her fourth album. Overseen by a team of producers including El Guincho and Jasper Harris, ‘C.XOXO’ is a colourful, ecelctic mix of ballads interspersed with R&B/ pop ear-worms, featuring an array of celebrity musical collaborators. Cabello wanted this album to stand in direct contrast to her 2022 ‘Familia’: ”I wanted something sonically aggressive”. Songs to listen out for in this fourteen-track collection include: the opener, a duet with rapper Playboi Carti on lead single ‘I Luv It’, with its accompanying quixotic video; the enigmatic ‘Chanel No.5’ with its out-of-tune piano intro; a catchy collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X on ‘He Knows’; the acoustic, downbeat ‘Twentysomethings’ circling round generational angst: 'Twenty-somethin’s, dancin’ while our hearts are bruisin’/…Twenty-somethin’s, gotta have a sense of humor/When it comes to us, don’t know what the fuck I’m doin'; 'Hot Uptown’, with its funky beat, featuring a moody, atmospheric patois cameo from Drake; female empowerment anthem ‘Dream Girls’ with its Latin/Afro-centric rhythm; minimalist, emotive piano ballad ‘B.O.A.T.’ ; the soulful ‘Pretty When I Cry’; and the sultry closer ‘June Gloom’ with its off-key keyboards and brittle, longing lyrics, asking an ex if he is truly in love with his current girlfriend. Exotic, unpredictable, ‘C.XOXO’ is an intriguing blend of introspection, rap and catchy R&B-flavoured pop.
Track Listing:-
1 I Luv It2 Chanel No.5
3 Pink XOXO
4 He Knows
5 Twentysomethings
6 Dade County Dreaming
7 Koshi XOXO
8 Hot Uptown
9 Uuugly
10 Dream-Girls
11 305tilidie
12 B.O.A.T.
13 Pretty When I Cry
14 June Gloom
Band Links:-
https://store.camilacabello.com/https://www.facebook.com/camilacabello
https://twitter.com/Camila_Cabello
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