CAMILA CABELLO Familia | The end of her love affair with Shawn Mendes
‘Familia’, Camila Cabello’s new album, came after the end of her mediatic relationship with Shawn Mendes, when Camila felt she didn’t have the strength to continue with her career.
CATEGORY | News
AUTHOR | JC Trembol
Reading Time | 4 min
Listening Time | 12 min
Camila Cabello & Ed Sheeran Bam Bam
Just before the outbreak of the pandemic and while she was beginning work on her third solo album, the singer suffered from what she called crippling anxiety, in her own words “the worst state of mental health“.
Camila then set out on the road to recovery because “she was terribly anxious“. She stopped everything she was doing and started therapy to feel good again.
There’s a sense of confidence in myself that I feel like I didn’t have before, because I was so anxious all the time.After her break-up with Shawn Mendes and all her efforts to heal her mind, Camila admits that with her new album, Familia (Family), she has left her demons behind 😈 Familia is Camila’s most personal, honest and also the easiest album to write to date. For this work, the artist wrote around 40 songs, of which only 11 made the cut.
What is Camila Cabello‘s new album Familia about?
Let’s take a walk through the album, which starts with a track of the same name of the album, Familia (Family), a brief introductory piece with a trumpet solo that doesn’t reach 20 seconds, but where Camila makes her intentions clear with this album 💃
The 2nd song, Celia, takes us with an afrobeat rhythm to Camila’s relationship with Shawn. Although the track makes a nod to one of the most famous Cuban singers in music, Celia Cruz, there are several references to her courtship, such as when she talks about the boy who wants to move to Miami with her and who, although he doesn’t know a lick of Spanish, gets private lessons. That’s just what happened with Camila and Shawn.
In the third track, Psychofreak, Camila puts the Latin rhythms aside for a moment and, together with Willow Smith, tells us about her mental health problems, and how fame came to her at a young age with Fifth Harmony.
Everybody says they miss the old me, I been on this ride since I was 15, I don’t blame the girls for how it went down, down
We come to our favourite song, Bam Bam, in collaboration with the UK’s Ed Sheeran. Although it sounds upbeat, it has a sad undertone. Camila Cabello once again mentions her relationship with Shawn Mendes, how things change when a breakup happens, however she tells us that we must always stay positive and live life to the fullest.
You said you hated the ocean, but you’re surfin’ now, I said I’d love you for life, but I just sold our houseIn ‘La Buena Vida (The good life)‘ we return to Latin rhythms, even with mariachis in homage to Mexico, the land where her father Alejandro Cabello was born. In the song Camila begins to realise how Shawn Mendes’ work is taking her away from her and how their time together is completely fading away.
And I thought we’d be traveling the world together, making love in the afternoon, But I’m forgetting what it’s like to wake up next to youQuiet is Familia’s most intimate song. It was the first song she recorded. You only have to look at the following verses to see that they are a clear allusion to the singer of Señorita.
Did you get taller?. Your hair is longer, Couple tattoos since I saw you. Lookin’ at your hands, Thinkin’ of my plans for ’emWith Boys Don’t Cry we don’t turn the page as far as Shawnmila is concerned, and it seems that the person Camila wants to help by relieving the weight off her shoulders is also Shawn.
Camila Cabello ‘Familia’
The album changes the pace completely with Hasta los Dientes (To the teeth), the second Spanish-language track from Familia. With the Argentinian María Becerra, it recalls those moments when you’re dying of jealousy at seeing the person you like with someone else 😬
We approach the home stretch with No Doubt, in which Camila talks about unfounded fears and the doubts and jealousy that are generated in a relationship.
Perhaps Familia’s biggest hit is Don’t Go Yet. Without a doubt, a declaration of intent that reveals the sound that will flood her music from now on.
Lola takes us back to Cuba. Teaming up with Yotuel, she recounts the plight of thousands of Cubans who cannot prosper in their country because of the situation there.
Familia is brought to a close by Everyone at this Party, another song that makes reference to Shawn Mendes. In her lyrics, Camila talks about having to go to a party and not knowing if Shawn will be there.
Scotty told me you’re here, And I’m having these thoughts. Did we fuck it up or not? Did we waste two years? And did you get the space you needed? Did you realize you don’t need me? Hey, did you realize you don’t need me?
Does Shawn Mendes talk about Camila Cabello in his latest album?
The answer is yes.
If we look at these lyrics from When You’re Gone, we see a clear reference to Camila.
Starting to feel like you don’t need me, Wanna believe it’s all for the better. It’s getting real, I’m missing you deeply, So I’m just tryna hold onThe same happens with It’ll Be Okay, where the Canadian makes reference to the painful moment of the break-up.
I start to imagine a world where we don’t collide. It’s making me sick, but we’ll heal and the sun will rise
Camila Cabello Brief Biography
Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao was born on 3 March 1997 in Cojimar, Cuba. Camila was born from a mixture of cultures: her father Alejandro was born in Mexico and her mother, Sinuhé, was born in Cuba.
During her childhood, Camila lived in both countries, soaking up their customs and music. When she was only 7 years old, she and her mother emigrated to the United States in search of a better future.
It would be in that country where her opportunity to shine arose. At the age of 15, she asked her mother as a birthday present to audition for The X Factor.
That was the birth of the Camila who captivated the world as part of the girl band Fifth Harmony. Five girls who came third on the famous show.
With Fifth Harmony Camila toured the world filling stadiums. Together they released 2 albums, with hit singles such as Work From Home and Worth It. At that time Camila tried her luck as a solo artist, collaborating with Shawn Mendes on I Know What You Did Last Summer.
In 2017 Camila would leave the group and start her solo career with the single Crying In The Club, followed by the big hit Havana. This would be the first single from her first solo album, ‘Camila’, released in 2018 💿
A year later, Camila Cabello began preparations for the release of her second album, ‘Romance‘, with the song Señorita, her second collaboration with Shawn Mendes, with whom she also began a romantic relationship after years of obvious signs of infatuation from both of them.
Camila is an all-rounder and in 2021 she made the leap to the big screen in the film Cinderella. A year later she returned to music with ‘Familia‘, a brutally honest album that you already know all about 😉
Camila Cabello
