Comes on silver vinyl LP – Alternative Cover
The pop star’s fourth LP is a transitional record mistakenly labeled as a statement album.
The outsized response sparked by C,XOXO’s lead single “I Luv It” was split between excitement over a radical new musical direction and eye-rolling over what initially seemed like one of the most cynical pop rebrands in recent memory (at least until we figure out what is going on with Katy Perry).
C,XOXO is a broadly sketched tale of returning home to Miami and gaining perspective on broken love and aimless youth. It’s heavy on vibes, evoking the 305 primarily through features, some voice memos, and a toothless Spring Breakers aesthetic that’s notably neither trashy nor violent. Yet the musical landscape that Cabello’s producers El Guincho and Jasper Harris conjure is incredibly vivid, wielding warm synths and babbling samples as slinky launch pads for scorching riffs on Afrobeat and reggaeton. Halfway through the fantastic “Dade County Dreaming”—which doubles as a likely swan song for City Girls—JT’s ass-shaking chant is gradually subsumed by an absolutely tidal piano churn as their swagger gives way to a dreamy instrumental vastness. It’s as if Cabello is accessing a new mental horizon in real time (source www.pitchfork.com).
