Turn It Up: New Releases for December 2019
Camila Cabello – Romance
Release date: 12/6
If you take a look at the singles listed on Camila’s Spotify page, it’s overwhelming how much music came out from her this year. It almost feels like this is a compilation album of 2019 instead of a full album meant to go together, but let’s tie it all up in a bow, shall we?
It seems our starting point is the duet with Shawn Mendes, “Senorita.” Just try to tell me it’s not catchy—go on, try. This was the one getting everyone hoping that they would get together for real, and look where we are now. Nothing like music video magic and art becoming life.
Okay, excuse me, “Liar” is meant to be the lead single from this album, apologies. She includes interpolations of “All Night Long (All Night)” and “All That She Wants” (Lionel Richie and Ace of Base, respectfully), so the catch is embedded in there if you wonder why it’s a slight earworm. It’s becoming such an interesting mix of styles as music evolves, this one calling on flamenco, trap, and what’s deemed a “ska-pop” chorus. I can’t keep up.
Don’t hold onto one genre for too long though—evidently we’re going pop-punk in “Shameless,” the b-side single to “Liar.” I don’t know if I’d go down that route necessarily, but I come from the pop-punk world of Yellowcard and Green Day, so maybe my perception is off. It’s definitely a darker tone with some interesting mixing that skew the vocals a bit.
I don’t know why I expected “Cry For Me” to be a heartbreaking ballad of wishing he was as sad as you are, but it’s kind of a gritty, angry track, and I dig that, too. I also appreciate that (I say this with love) the album has multiple sides to it, not just all Latin flavor.
Quickly following that was “Easy,” another song that I would believe to be completely auto-tuned had I not seen live performances proving Camila does have a great pop voice. “Living Proof” seems to round that feeling out more, giving off some falsetto that we haven’t heard since “Never Be The Same” that keeps the whole compilation interesting. All in all, this will be a solid release with a variety to hear.
(Side note: In my investigation of her music, I discovered a version of “Never Be The Same” with Kane Brown that is just fantastic.)
Other 12/6 releases:
Liam Payne – LP1
Anna Nalick – The Blackest Crow
MUSE – Origin of MUSE
Harry Styles – Fine Line
Release date: 12/13
Harry has not been quite as forthcoming with his new music hints leading up to this release, but we do get a few little tastes of (what I can’t believe is) his second solo album. The infamous soundbite on how he described this release, of course, is that it’s “all about having sex and feeling sad.” Insert your own commentary here.
“Lights Up” is disco-trippy. This is a floating kind of track with not a lot to hold onto as you just have to drift into it. Personally, not my style unless I need to relax, but I get it. And now, as I type this, I look up at the Wiki page and discover he was on psychedelic drugs during the recording process. So much makes sense now.
“Watermelon Sugar” is the only other hint we get so far (though “Adore You” will be out by the time this article is posted), and it’s got a steady guitar riff as it goes on. We’re still in the 70s somehow, so I get the album cover and whole motif at this point. I bet my mom would love this album.
Other 12/13 releases:
Stormzy – Heavy Is The Head
Blake Shelton – Fully Loaded: God’s Country
St. Vincent – Nina Kraviz presents MASSEDUCATION Rewired
And with that, those are our major new releases for December on the regular schedule (I know, Kanye’s new album apparently drops on Christmas Day). But let’s take a peek at the rumors for next year, shall we? Time to get excited for 2020!
January 2020
Little Big Town – Nightfall
Echosmith – Lonely Generation
Kesha – High Road
G. Love – The Juice
Halsey – Manic
Black Lips – Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart
Breaking Benjamin – Aurora
Dashboard Confessional – The Best Ones of The Best Ones
Drive-By Truckers – The Unraveling
Meghan Trainor – Treat Myself
Louis Tomlinson – Walls
Theory of a Deadman – Say Nothing
February 2020
The Cadillac Three – Country Fuzz
Green Day – Father of All…
Hollywood Undead – New Empire Vol. 1
Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
The 1975 – Notes on a Conditional Form
Grimes – Miss_Anthropocene
Five Finger Death Punch – F8
May 2020
Alanis Morissette – Such Pretty Forms in the Road
The Airborne Toxic Event – Hollywood Park
Weezer – Van Weezer
Plus, we’re still anticipating releases next year from the likes of Bon Jovi, Broken Bells, Diddy, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Cardi B, Dixie Chicks, Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, Lisa Loeb, Major Lazer, Miley Cyrus, Modest Mouse, My Bloody Valentine, My Morning Jacket, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, PartyNextDoor, Phantom Planet, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rihanna, The Cure, The Killers, Travis Barker, and The Weeknd.
Whew. It’s gonna be a heck of a year y’all! See you in it with more music!