Camila Cabello over de beste Rom-Com stellen en haar relatie met Shawn Mendes

Camila Cabello dacht erover om de nummers van haar nieuwe album al uit te voeren nog voordat ze het opnam. Na het spelen in stadions in 2018 als openingsact op de wereldtournee van Taylor Swift, ging de 22-jarige de studio in om haar aanstaande tweede album, ‘Romance’, op te nemen met het doel: bombastische liedjes opnemen die geweldig live zouden klinken.

“I was really inspired by the big sounds of the Eighties,” she says, jet-lagged and calling from London. “I just liked the drama — like Queen, where everything is so intense. I want these songs to feel amazing to perform.”

De nummers op haar titelloze debuut album gaan over haar roots, relaties en zichzelf vestigen als een solo-artiest, los van haar groep Fifth Harmony. Cabello wilde meer thematisch gefocust zijn. Daarnaast werd ze verliefd op een goede vriend, collega-ster Shawn Mendes, en bracht ze samen singles uit zoals ‘Shameless’ en ‘Cry for Me’. In een interview met Rolling Stone besprak Cabello haar favoriete Rom-Com stellen, Mendes en ‘Sex and the City’.

Lees hieronder het volledige interview:

What’s scarier: releasing your debut solo album, or following up that success?
I have a complicated answer for this that has much to do with where I’m at internally. My personality is pretty extreme, so I’m either scared of everything or scared of nothing. Some days, I think that it was scary. It’s not even the pressure of [success]. Showing up to the studio and having to be so vulnerable in front of people that I just met that day can feel like a scary thing. On other days you’re like “Oh, it’s not.”

With my first album, I would come to the studio super overly prepared, with every lyric of the song written before I went into the studio and ten concepts and titles for songs that I wanted to write that day. [But] with songwriting, the most magical moments are the ones where you’re not trying at all.

You turned 21 before going on the Reputation tour with Taylor Swift and Charli XCX. Did you have any crazy nights with them?
I so regret that we didn’t do that more! We did not have enough of those. I think we should have them when we’re all in LA again sometime. I would go to Taylor’s dressing room, but we didn’t really go out and party. I think only one time in the middle of the tour.

Do you have a favorite song from Lover?
I love “Afterglow.” I listened to it 30 times in a row when it came out.You recently posted this video of yourself lip-syncing in the bathroom to the High School Musical song “Fabulous” and captioned it “Welcome to adulthood everybody.” Is that what a typical night looks like for you?
Oh, my God, yes. My therapy is listening to songs from the early 2000s. I actually have a playlist I found on Spotify: “Shut Up and Drive,” Rihanna; “My Humps,” Black Eyed Peas; “Fergalicious,” [Fergie]; “Complicated,” Avril Lavigne. Whenever I feel anxious or want to make myself happy, I just put that on and I sing at the top of my lungs. I’m obsessed with songs from my childhood. It just makes life feel simple and fun.
You have a reputation for being extremely nice. What’s the meanest thing you’ve ever done?
I’m sure I’ve been mean by accident, but I’m so sensitive that I couldn’t intentionally hurt someone’s feelings. I’m not saying that to sound super wholesome and pure — I just don’t have any memory of me being capable of doing that.
What’s the most rebellious thing you’ve done?
When I was in the group [Fifth Harmony], me and one of the girls snuck into this club on the first floor of a hotel for a white party. We were, like, 16 or something, and if we wanted to leave the room, we had to tell the tour manager so our security and our team at the time were looking for us. It’s not a great answer: The last rebellious thing I did was when I was 16 years old.

Was it a fun party?
It was fun because we weren’t allowed to be in it. But actually this is inspiring me! Next time you talk to me I want to have a more recent answer.

You’re dating Shawn Mendes. When did your relationship go from friendship to romance?
During “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” I really bonded with him as more than a friend. I think he did, too, but we were both really young, and he was experiencing the pressures of his career. I don’t think we knew what to do with those feelings. It was this awkward thing where we both liked each other, but we weren’t together. It was just weird. An energy was there from the beginning, but after that song, we didn’t spend as much time together. Our paths just didn’t cross in that way romantically until we started hanging out again and writing. For me, it just brought it back.

On SNL, you paid homage to Madonna’s Marie Antoinette-inspired VMA performance, and dedicated your 2018 VMA Video of the Year win to her. How does she influence you?
She’s such a badass. I want to be more like her. I think everybody does.

What was it like working with Ed Sheeran on his latest album?
Sometimes, you go in with people and you can tell they’re just trying to make a hit song or are phoning it in. He’s so enthusiastic about it. He, like, doesn’t stop: He’s just like, “All right, what’s the next song? What’s the next?”

You can see the influence of romantic movies in your music videos. Do you have any favorites?
I love the movie ‘About Time’, have you seen that?

 About Time

I actually haven’t.
Oh, you should! It’s with Rachel McAdams. It’s my favorite romantic movie; superunderrated, in my opinion.

Do you have any favorite fictional couples?
OK, Noah and Allie from The Notebook.

Classic.
Rapunzel and Eugene from Tangled. I was going to say Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big [from Sex and the City], but I feel that their relationship is a bit toxic. But I still love them in their early days.