Camila Cabello talks ahead of Birmingham show

Camila’s Never Be The Same tour follows the immediate success of her self-titled debut album, giving fans the perfect opportunity to see the songstress as she marks a huge moment in her career. She will headline Birmingham’s O2 on Wednesday.

The Cuban-American singer and songwriter rose to fame as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which was formed during the second season of The X Factor US in 2012. She began to establish herself as a solo artist with the release of several collaborations, including Bad Things with Machine Gun Kelly, which reached number four on the US Billboard Hot 100.

After leaving Fifth Harmony in December 2016, she released the solo single Crying in the Club. Refocusing her sound to Latin-influenced music, her eponymous debut studio album Camila debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, supported by its lead single Havana, which reached number one in a number of countries, including the UK and the US. She says the success of Havana was empowering: “I think it really gave me a certain buzz of confidence.

When you’re a new solo artist, people are kind of scared to do stuff that’s different or new because they just want to go with what’s already being played on the radio.

“They want to stick to the formula that’s already been tested. We didn’t even release Havana as a single because no one believed in it enough. They were like, ‘Oh that’s a cool song, but it’s definitely not what you want as a single from your album’. And so when it worked, I was like, ‘Nobody really knows anything, so you might as well go with what you love’.

“It was super-validating. It taught me this huge lesson of going with what you feel and you like. Because that way, at least you know you’re always going to be excited performing the song. And if people connect with it, that’s honestly one of the most incredible things ever. It’s just taught me to always go with my gut.”

Camila has had to grow up quickly as she comes to terms with her success in an age of social media. “It can be a little hard in the age of social media where it feels like you just have to constantly be ‘on’. And sometimes, I don’t really like being ‘on’. Like, if I go home to my family in Miami for a break, I don’t like to be constantly Snapchatting everything. Sometimes I feel like I could probably do more of that kind of thing, but I don’t want to constantly be on my phone, saying what I’m doing and who I’m doing it with. And when it comes to interviews, I think sometimes I just have to know when to shut up.”