Camila Cabello performs the Jingle Ball on December 9, 2016 in New York, New York. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty)
Camila Cabello is approaching a crucial point in her music career. A little more than a year after she parted ways with the girl group Fifth Harmony, she has announced her debut solo album, complete with a single release date and a lengthy explanation as to the creative space she is currently in.
If she falls short, it will come as a mass disappointment to the fans who have waited in anticipation. If she succeeds, she could very well be on her way to becoming the next massive pop star. So, as we wait the outcome of this crucial point, here are five fast facts you need to know about Camila Cabello’s new album.
1. It’s Titled ‘The Hurting, The Healing, The Loving’
Cabello caused a social media uproar on Sunday, May 14th, when she announced the title of her debut album: The Hurting, The Healing, The Loving. Fortunately, given the emotions and meanings conjured up by such a title, Cabello provided a lengthy Instagram post to her fans about where she is at in her life: “The hurting, the healing, the loving is the story of my journey from darkness into light, from a time when I was lost to a time when I found myself again.”
Cabello added: “To the hurting, thank you for teaching me than even if at night you take me in the deepest depths of the ocean, I will still wake in the morning. To the healing, thank you for the tears. When they finally came, they tasted like God. To the loving, you are even more beautiful than I remember.” There is no scheduled release for the album as of yet.
2. The First Single Will Be Released On Friday
Cabello’s first single is titled “Crying In The Club” and it will be released this Friday, May 19th. According to the singer, however, the song “I Have Questions” will not only be the first taste that fans get of the new album, but the jumping off point for the album as a whole: “The story behind the album starts with the second song that you’ll hear called ‘I have questions’ which I started writing in a hotel bathroom on a tour a little over a year ago.”
Cabello went on to explain her past situation further: “I was completely broken during that time, I was in the kind of pain that’s uncomfortable to talk about, and it was the kind of chapter you never want to read out loud… I couldn’t write another song for 6 months because writing meant I had to feel everything, and I wasn’t ready to do that yet.” Also be sure to keep an eye on Cabello’s Instagram account, as she appears to be uploading clips from her upcoming music video.
3. The Album Is Very Personal
As can be inferred from her social media post, Cabello is moving away from the superficial pop themes of her tenure with Fifth Harmony and seemingly going for something much more personal. In some ways, it calls to mind the blueprint of former One Direction singer Harry Styles and his recently released debut. Cabello writes: “I wrote a sad song everyday, everything I wanted to say, every lyric on my phone, I said everything until I got tired of writing about it. Until I was sick of the sad songs!!!!”
As Cabello continued, however, she became happier, and her feelings resonated in the music: “I realized I wasn’t making music just to make an album anymore, I was making this music to heal. It wasn’t until I had made enough songs to listen back to and realized I could hear myself coming back through these songs. I didn’t write it with the intention of delivering a message, but I realized the message was in the hurting, the healing, and the loving.”
4. Cabello Has Already Seen Solo Success
Though Cabello has yet to release an official song by herself, her solo career has gotten off to a great start. Her 2015 duet with Shawn Mendes, “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” became a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Bad Things,” her collaboration with rapper Machine Gun Kelly, shot to number four the following year. More recently, Cabello appeared opposite J Balvin and Pitbull on the single “Hey Ma” from The Fate of the Furious soundtrack, which elevated her crossover appeal overseas.
For her album, Cabello has reportedly called in the musical talents of producers Andrew “Pop” Wansel and Frank Dukes. “I never underestimated her talent,” says Wansel, whose worked with artists like Usher and Miguel, “But I was not expecting her to have such a powerful vision.”
5. She Will Address Her Time With Fifth Harmony
Fifth Harmony attend the Jingle Ball on December 18, 2016 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty)
Cabello’s departure from Fifth Harmony was one of the major shocks of 2016. The girl group had just released their second studio album, and scored the top 10 singles. But Cabello felt unfulfilled with Harmony, as she recounted in an interview with Billboard: “The easiest route would be to shut my mouth, sing the songs, wear the clothes and keep going, you know? I mean, [we were] at the peak of our career. It’s definitely not the safe option. But I have it in my DNA. The way my mom raised me, it has always been: Don’t settle. Jump and hope you grow wings on the way down.”
Cabello’s emotional turmoil was largely in part due to her unhappiness with Fifth Harmony, and when asked whether she is worried about ruining her career, she responded: “I know people will try and turn this into, ‘Is she going to be more successful outside the group?’ To me, if I’m in the studio every day and I’m growing as an artist and I’m speaking from my heart, that’s success. The results don’t matter. I mean, isn’t that the goal?”
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Camila Cabello’s New Album: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know