Camila Cabello, a half-hearted reinvention in ‘C,XOXO’

The girl who six years ago appeared at a Grammy gala as “a proud Cuban-Mexican immigrant, born east of Havana,” has evolved, and now, at 27, she is playing with an idea of ​​reinvention in her bedroom. album, ‘C,XOXO’, whose title In Newspeak ‘whatsapp’ conveys closeness and physical contact: ‘Camila, hugs, kisses’, he tells us as a signature at the bottom of the page. There are no deep philosophical messages floating there, just a desire for real sensations channeled by music that leaves behind the Latin ascendancy and opts for a pop with a strong electronic substratum, with touches of r’n’b and hip-hop and some daring productions.

Camila Cabello announced to us a few days ago on the X network that “the world of ‘C,XOXO’ is very sensual” and that it appeals to all of our terminals: “taste, touch, sight, smell, sound”. She does it here, in an expeditious manner, in the first section of songs, like ‘I luv it’ (with rapper Playboi Carti), showy and sharp, crafted by El Guincho, a figure of weight throughout the album. A song that when it was released as a ‘single’ (in March) invited speculation about an album leaning towards hyperpop à la Charli XCX.

That pique with Drake

This is not the case, although some of it can be seen in ‘He Knows’, a duet with Lil Nas X on thick bases, where the rapper sets the times. Other anchor points point in different directions: ‘Chanel no. 5’, with its libidinous touch and the bold discordant piano of it, and the flirtation with the dembow of the robust ‘Hot uptown’, date with Drake in which he shows off his Mercedes and his Tiffany’s jewelry, which, apparently, does not impress her: “You’re too weak to be able to handle me, darling,” he replies without breaking a sweat.

Cabello has worked to make this an album and not a ‘pack’ of songs, introducing those interludes that are so popular lately. Without being exactly one, because it lasts 2′ 42”, ‘Twentysomethings’, brings some confessions in troubadour mode-with-acoustic-guitar which may well condense the philosophical background of the album: “Twenty-somethings, in love, lustful, confused / Twenty-somethings, dancing with bruised hearts.” But sometimes it is not entirely clear where the sonic personality of this ‘new’ Camila Cabello, while ‘C,XOXO’ is losing steam after its halfway point.

The Afro-Cuban stamp of ‘Havana’ (2017), which she kept in later albums, is far away, because she now walks the paths of the ‘mainstream’ with some touch of assimilable avant-garde. ‘Dream-girls’ emphasizes the formula of crushing phrasing and the piano ballad ‘BOAT’ is not very significant. With all this, ‘C.XOXO’ contains letters to please her ‘fandom’, but it does not become that resounding work with which Camila Cabello could ascend to the next level.

Chilean Melissa Aldana, tenor sax phenomenon, continues to grow. And no longer as an instrumentalist, where no one disputes her authority, but as a storyteller, which is what is really important. In this second quintet album, Aldana delves into a world that already dazzled in the previous “12 Stars.” Melancholic and mysterious, full of melodies that are beautiful just because and crossed from time to time by turbulence, “Echoes of the Inner Prophet” They are major words with a capital letter. By Roger Roca

Six years after her last release, Peyroux delves into her role as a composer (in tandem with guitarist Jon Herington) and her soft crooner register is ideal for lazy summer afternoons. A warm songbook, even if it avoids some political accents (‘black lives matter’, sexual abuse), in contact with the blues and New Orleans, in which he rescues French (‘Et puis’) and ventures into Spanish in the border story of ‘Me and the mosquito’. By J.B.