Hear Camila Cabello’s Desolate New Song ‘Real Friends’
Camila Cabello released the lonely ballad “Real Friends” and a swooning, lovestruck number titled “Never Be the Same” this week. Both songs are instant grat tracks for fans who pre-order the singer’s upcoming debut album, which is due out January 12th.
“Real Friends” is Cabello’s sparest single to date. The singer is accompanied by light guitar and overdubbed backing vocals; a lone handclap provides the track’s percussive engine. “I’m just lookin’ for some real friends/ Wonder where they’re all hidin’ out,” Cabello sings. “I’m just lookin’ for some real friends/ Gotta get up out of this town.”
In contrast, “Never Be the Same” is full of booming drums and love-is-the-drug metaphors. During the pre-hook, Cabello pushes her voice into a high squeak as she ticks off the narcotic aspects of her attachment: “Just like nicotine, heroin, morphine, suddenly I’m a fiend and you’re all I need.”
Cabello announced that her upcoming album – once titled The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving, now dubbed Camila – was finished this week on Twitter. “All of these songs have special memories behind them, and I’m not gonna lie, it feels emotional letting them go, feels like the end of a chapter,” she wrote. “… It started with somebody else’s story; it ended with me finding my way back to myself.”
Cabello’s single “Havana,” a collaboration with Young Thug, has been Number Two on the Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks. On Monday, it was certified double platinum by the RIAA, signifying two million units sold and streamed.