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C, XOXO
Camilla Cabello
Written by Olivia J. Bennett
Edited by Isabella Trimboli
Published in print by The Big Issue AU
Issue #716 | 19 July 2024
Since leaving Fifth Harmony in 2018, Camila Cabello shot to fame with ‘Señorita’ featuring Shawn Mendes, a track that owes its two billion Spotify listens more to department store airplay than genuine acclaim. Cabello’s fourth album, C, XOXO, runs on empty emotions, speeding full tilt with no direction, enlisting every trick in the book. The single ‘I LUV IT’ featuring Playboi Carti is perhaps redeemable, more of an earworm than the rest of the album. There are lots of cameos here: BLP Kosher contributes a 46-second track with a superficial narrative of loss. Drake pops up on ‘HOT UPTOWN’ but also bizarrely has a solo track ‘Uuugly’ in the middle of the album. The track titles, ranging from lowercase to uppercase, reflect the album’s manic nature. Themes of 00s nostalgia and the I’m just a girl sentiment abound, especially in tracks like ‘DREAM-GIRL’ and “Twentysomethings.” The album is dismal, a clear cry of desperation from a declining industry plant.