New upbeat Camila Cabello album “Famila” features breakup songs and female empowerment. PHOTO CREDIT: Genius
Camila Cabello, a popular artist that got her start as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, released her third studio solo album on April 8.
The album, called “Familia,” was unique and upbeat. The album combined songs in Spanish, English and a mix of both English and Spanish. Cabello connected back to her Latin roots with this album and it was something that I really enjoyed listening to. There was a good mix of different speeds of songs and different messages being portrayed by the songs.
The first track, “Familia,” is a unique start to the album. The track is only 16 seconds long and is a track of only trumpets playing in an upbeat tone. “Familia” blends perfectly into the second song, “Celia.”
“Celia,” the first full-length track on the album, is sung fully in Spanish. As a non-fluent Spanish speaker, I had to look up a translation of the lyrics and I was shocked to find out that the lyrics are actually pretty raunchy compared to what I would assume the lyrics would be. I thought that the song was upbeat and fun to listen to.
The third track, “psychofreak,” is the first out of four songs that features another artist on it. This song had a much different vibe than “Celia,” serving a more mainstream pop vibe than the Latin vibes that were in the first two songs on the album. This song features WILLOW. The voices of the two blend together nicely in the song and I enjoyed listening to it.
“Bam Bam”, featuring Ed Sheeran, was one of the original singles that got released to promote the album. I remember hearing this a few months ago and really enjoying it. I’m a huge fan of Ed Sheeran and Camila’s vocals and listening to the two of them together was something that I really liked. It was also different hearing Sheeran sing in an upbeat-Latin song rather than his usual slower, sad niche. I also love knowing that this song is mostly about Camila’s ex-boyfriend Shawn Mendes, who I am also a fan of.
“La Buena Vida,” in the weirdest way possible, reminds me of a song that would’ve been in the Disney movie “Encanto.” I’m not entirely sure what makes me think of it, but it has almost a whimsical vibe that would fit into an animated Disney song, however, the lyrics are not Disney-appropriate. I like the passion that is in Cabello’s voice during this track.
“Quiet” has another mainstream pop vibe but with a Latin touch to it. I really like this song and the meaning behind it. While it does talk about intimacy, it talks about it in a much less raunchy kind of way than “Celia” does. This song would be nice to listen to on a hot summer day with the windows down in your car.
I absolutely love the message behind “Boys Don’t Cry.” The lyrics talk about the stigma behind men not being allowed to show emotion and being with a man who refuses to show his emotions for the fear of not being a “man.” This song has a low-key vibe to it and it is definitely my favorite on the album right now. Something about the lyrics just connects to me in a different way and I really enjoy the song.
“Hasta Los Dientes” is the second song on the album that is fully in Spanish. The lyrics talk about the feeling of being jealous of the ex of a lover, remembering that they’ve once been intimate with them before you got a chance to. This song was good, but kind of just sounds the same as the majority of the album. Nothing about it really stood out to me.
The ninth song on the album, “No Doubt,” reminds me vaguely of Cabello’s famous song “Havana.” This groovy, sensual song reminds me of being on vacation on an island. This song is also another song in both Spanish and English, being English in the beginning and switching to Spanish in the chorus. I liked this song. It wasn’t anything special but overall I enjoyed it.
“Don’t Go Yet” was another single off of the album and I didn’t realize that I knew it until I listened to it. This song is probably the most upbeat on the entire album and is up there on my list of favorites. There are parts of the chorus where the music cuts out and it’s just Cabello’s vocals. Throughout the entire listen of this track, I found myself dancing along to the beat.
The second to last song called “Lola” talks about a young girl who is very smart and has her life aspirations but was forced to quit school to work and provide for her family. It’s about how she feels like her voice is silenced and how she slowly loses hope in everything as she gets older.
“Everyone at this party” is the last and most vulnerable song on the album, which I’m assuming is about her ex-boyfriend Shawn Mendes. This heartfelt ballad talks about how she always finds herself looking for someone at every party she goes to, just to find that he isn’t there. This one is sad and raw and is definitely one of my favorites on the album.
Overall, I enjoyed listening to Cabello’s newest album. I’ve heard a few of her works before, but now I feel like there will be more instances that I listen to her music. A few of these songs will be added to my playlist for sure.