Camila Cabello's new album presents an existential threat to songwriting

It is always interesting to observe the ways in which pop stars try to negotiate first growing up, and then growing old. From teen scream to respected mainstay to elder states(wo)man is not an easy path to walk without a few stumbles. At certain times, it requires making some blatantly strategic moves.

Cabello wants so badly to grow up that she evolves from a past incarnation practically into thin air

Few readers will remember that the first solo single George Michael released after dissolving Wham! was called ‘I Want Your Sex’, a forgettable bump-and-grind with a steamy video designed purely to shift audience expectations away from all things teenybopper and towards a more adult-orientated market. The song was banned by the BBC during daylight hours. Michael would have been thrilled.

More recently, when Miley Cyrus wanted to kill off her sweet Disney alter-ego Hannah Montana, she swung around half-naked on a wrecking ball for four minutes. It wasn’t subtle, exactly, but the message was effectively delivered and duly received.

I doubt whether Camila Cabello’s reinvention will end up being quite so successful. Cabello is a Cuban-American singer who got her break on The X Factor as a member of vocal group Fifth Harmony. That kind of legacy can quickly become an albatross. After a decade as a sincere, straight-edged pop star – her early single ‘Havana’ remains her most well-known – on her fourth album she throws herself into sexed-up, hyper-pop adulthood by going blonde, swearing quite a lot and auto-tuning her voice almost out of existence.