C,XOXO - A Musical Identity Crisis

Camila Cabello releases C,XOXO as her fourth studio album and let's just say, there's a lot to unpack. Over the duration of her career thus far, Camila has established herself as an excellent vocalist and a recognizable name in the world of mainstream pop music, but her latest album feels like a failed attempt at reinventing her artistry. Camila dabbled heavily in a more electronically sonic production that using a lot of vocoder which sounded like a poor mixing job as it did not sit great on top of her voice. Camila's voice sounds very raw and authentic which is what I liked most about her, but when all the vocoder and reverb is added on top of it, it sounds odd and does not fit well at all. I can commend Camila for attempting to change her sound and experimenting with a new style of music, but it just isn't working. There are several songs that I know I would've loved based on their melody and lyrics if she just took a step back on the vocal editing. Songs like Channel no. 5 and and Pretty When I Cry are songs that I feel would be better off if her voice has its authentic sound. But instead Twentysomething is probably my favourite track on the album and the only one I'll listen to because it makes more sense stylistically which allows Camila to more effectively communicate her story.

I've always enjoyed Camila Cabello's music but C, XOXO just doesn't feel real. With techno-pop rising in popularity, Camila missed the mark at her attempt to follow along with this trend. I would love to see if this is a style Camila is going to explore further and maybe execute better in the future, or if she's still learning to understand herself as an artist. I'm intrigued to see what the future holds.