Shawn Mendes has been generating hits for a while now. From “Stitches” to “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” to “Treat You Better,” the Canadian singer-songwriter is a chart-topper and a pop staple.
Mendes branched out with his latest release, Shawn – opting to play with folk and jazz influences. This album comes four years after Mendes’ last one, Wonder, and two years after the mental break that led to the cancellation of “Wonder: The World Tour,” which began July 27, 2022. According to the LA Times, a three-week break was announced on June 8 and the entire tour was canceled shortly after.
“I know you all have been waiting so long to see these shows, and it breaks my heart to tell you this, but I promise I will be back as soon as I’ve taken the right time to heal,” Mendes said on Instagram when he announced the initial break.
Two years later, Shawn is ultimately an album reflecting on those severe mental health struggles. One of its opening lines is “And it broke my heart when I cancelled tour.”
But though the pain and deep sadness Mendes surely faced during his break are the thematic focal points of Shawn, the album lacks craft, depth and lyricism. It’s self-reflective, hence its title, but surface-level and lackluster in its ability to explore the trenches of emotion it should. What’s more, it conceals the belting power of Mendes’ vocals.
Shawn opens with “Who I Am” – arguably the most dull track on the album. Mendes’ voice weaves prettily between guitar strums, but the lyrics fall short. The melody doesn’t take any chances and there’s no bridge to break up the choral repetition.
“Who I am” leads into “Why Why Why,” which has a chord progression so similar to its predecessor that the listener might question if the first song ever actually ended. “Why Why Why” features more upbeat production. Like most of Shawn, it’s slightly folky – a diversion from Mendes’ usual style – but not enough to let it break the mainstream ceiling that hangs over his discography.
Mendes’ lyrical weakness is never more apparent than in “That’s the Dream,” where lines like “I don’t know if it’s meant to be” are swirled in with “I feel like a shadow of myself” and “nothing good comes easily” to form a bland accumulation of recycled phrases. His voice is lovely and unfiltered, but the lyrics ride a dull melody into cliché oblivion.
The album peaks with “Nobody Knows.” Here, Mendes makes his best appeals to folk and jazz. His soaring vocals draw the listener in, and his strong storytelling keeps them hooked. Carefully-placed whoops ring out behind strong guitar strums to make the emotional outpour of the song that much more climactic.
“Heavy” is another highlight. Not only does Mendes’ weighty, powerful voice shine on this track, but his lyrical cadence is creative and catchy. He takes chances and truly conveys an all-consuming love.
Between “Nobody Knows” and “Heavy” are two throwaway tracks: “Isn’t that Enough” and “Heart of Gold.” The lyricism in “Isn’t that Enough” is sweet and intentional – better than a lot of Mendes’ work. Still, the track is repetitive, and it sounds a lot like other songs on the album.
“Heart of Gold” is an elegy of sorts, but again, Mendes isn’t able to portray the weight of the situation in his lyrics or instrumentation. He doesn’t make use of his vocal prowess to communicate emotion at all – in fact, his voice seems more robotic on this track than anywhere else on Shawn.
“That’ll be the Day” and “In Between” are the most frustrating tracks. The album is already beginning to tire, and these two soft ballads – nearly indistinguishable from each other – will almost surely make the listener hit pause. Much like “Rollin’ Right Along,” the last new track on the album, neither are worth the focus it takes to stay engaged with them.
Luckily, before “Rollin’ Right Along,” the album offers one last glimmer of hope. “The Mountain,” with its hovering background vocals and raw guitar, is the most narratively complex track on Shawn. It’s the lyrical climax, too – showcasing a poetic side of Mendes’ wordplay that the rest of the album begs for.
“And you can say it was drugs / You can say it was God / You can say it was aliens / You can say I’ve lost the plot,” Mendes sings.
Mendes closes Shawn with a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” It’s a touching addition to the premises of mental reckoning and the pain of love. But again, Mendes withdraws his voice, making it small and shaky instead of singing from the soul.
Shawn is an adventurous work for Mendes, but it breaks no new ground in the pop world. It’s repetitive, serviceable and subdued – and it suggests that maybe Mendes should stick to the pop basics he knows best.