Camila Cabello kicks of new era with two singles
Camila Cabello is unstoppable at the moment. After her successful first album which included the monster hit ‘Havana’, she managed to grab another international number 1 recently. Her duet ‘Señorita’ with Shawn Mendes is still dominating the charts, but Cabello herself is already moving on with her solo career. She announced the new ‘project’ Romance today and launched the first two, very different, singles ‘Shameless’ and ‘Liar’.
The strategy with these two singles seems similar to when she dropped ‘Havana’ and ‘OMG’: throwing out two singles in different styles and see which one does better and go with that. It is hard to predict this time which one it is going to be. ‘Liar’ is definitely the safe choice. It follows the Latin inspired pop sound she already proved herself to be successful with. Admittedly, ‘Liar’ is a more than decent effort in its genre as well. The seductive hook created by the bass line is instantly catchy. The addition of the horns in the production is a smart move and both the intro and outro sound lush. This could easily be another late summer hit.
It feels like ‘Shameless’ is to ‘Liar’ what ‘Never Be The Same’ was to ‘Havana’: a more electronic approach to pop with a big dramatic chorus. Having said that, ‘Shameless’ pushes the electronic aspect way further and also demands more from Cabello’s vocals. The dark beat drop after the chorus sounds like it would not have been out of place on the latest record by pop artist BANKS. The track about an intense love affair in which both parties do not seem to want the same thing is both dramatic and excellently produced. Not everyone might appreciate her whirlwind vocal performance on this, but I think it suits the desperation the lyrics describe. I did not expect Camila to serve the pop drama I love!
Although Cabello and her team push ‘Shameless’ with an aesthetically pleasing music video, ‘Liar’ is the one adopted in the New Music Friday playlist on Spotify.
Update: Camila premiered the over the top video for ‘Liar’ too. We see her in a relationship with a billionaire’s son who is not making her happy. She keeps dying over and over again after the same dinner until she is fully honest with herself… this playful side suits her well!