In what is fast becoming the default mode for new music announcements, Camila Cabello took to social media to do, well, just about everything except for explicitly stating that she has a new album coming out next year.
Cabello's last release was 2022's 'Familia.'
The former Fifth Harmony member left a trail of not-so-subtle breadcrumbs on an Instagram Story post on Dec. 28 (first spotted and reported by Billboard), culminating with the message “see you next year, bitches” alongside a mouth-zippered-shut emoji. Among the other conspicuous signposts: photos of her musical collaborators in a recording studio, a text (purportedly to her mom) reading “it’s slutty, but it’s art,” and a promise that 2024 would be “mostly the year of this” next to a photo of her singing into a microphone.
Is this a promise of new music? Is it an elaborate fake-out designed to lure music writers sifting through the social media streams for news during a typically news-dry post-Christmas week? Only time will tell. But it wouldn’t seem too much of a stretch.
Cabello with the rest of the voice cast for 'Trolls Band Together' at the film's Los Angeles premiere in 2023.
Cabello’s most recent album was 2022’s Familia. Compared to her previous two solo albums, it received a lukewarm commercial reception in the U.S., topping out at No. 10 on the Billboard album chart, with its highest-charting single, the Ed Sheeran collaboration “Bam Bam,” reaching No. 21.
In contrast, her 2018 debut Camila topped the album chart upon its release, with single “Havana” also reaching No. 1, and later certified Diamond by the RIAA. Cabello’s sophomore album, 2019’s Romance, reached No. 3, while she once again snagged a No. 1 single with her Shawn Mendes duet, “Señorita.” Familia was Cabello’s final album with Epic Records; she has since signed to Interscope.
Also in recent years, Cabello has opened for Coldplay during the South American leg of the group’s Music of the Spheres World Tour, as well as performing during the opening ceremonies of the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final at Paris’ Stade de France. She was part of the voice cast for last November’s animated sequel Trolls Band Together, contributing two songs to the soundtrack. She had previously made her acting debut in the lead role of Cinderella, Amazon Studios’ updated 2021 reimagining of the classic fairy tale.
