Shawn Mendes’ first album in four years, “Shawn,” is his most personal record to date, but simultaneously his most anticlimactic and lackluster.
Though a talented musician and vocalist, Mendes created an album with no decision on a genre, which can be effective if there is a solid theme or story, and there unfortunately was neither. “Shawn” is his comeback into the spotlight after his hiatus from the public eye after canceling his tour in 2022 for mental health purposes. Most fans were expecting an album full of sincerity and self-discovery but were instead handed pop-country fusion with miscellaneous themes.
The album opener, “Who I Am,” is an over a minute confession of his loss of identity. He is having trouble getting to know himself and feels pressure from his fans and the people he loves. Mendes sings in the third verse, “And it broke my heart when I canceled tour,” which completely ruined the song for me.
Artists who include that they sing or write songs in their lyrics are my biggest pet peeve in music. It completely takes me out of the universe they are building and honestly makes me cringe. I wish that he phrased his emotion differently or used a metaphor to describe it. Displaying the issue bluntly did not resonate with me and I interpreted it as lazy writing.
This point at issue comes again in the next song “Why Why Why,” where he sings about struggling to make songs and performing. I was hoping that he would show and not tell with his lyrics and stop spelling it out for the listeners.
“Nobody Knows” was the first song off of the record I added to my library after the opening verse. The twangy and plucky electric guitar that opened the track had me entirely hooked. The beat picks up and Mendes’ angelic vocals that boom into the first chorus gave me full body chills. The choir-like backing vocals supporting the heavy drums and country style guitar picking made this track unforgettable. “Nobody Knows” is such a wonderful listen that I wish there were more similar songs like it on the record. It has such a beautiful southern atmosphere built around it incorporated with heavenly vocals and impressive production.
The only other song on the record that was similar to the former is “Heavy,” which was another song I added to my library almost immediately. The guitar in the beginning was huge and the build to the first chorus was spectacular, but resolved too quickly. After some mild disappointment and beautiful harmonies the build completely paid off. Mendes’ melodies harmonize gracefully with the backing vocals and huge major chords.
“The Mountain” is his first song acknowledging all of the invasive accusations about his personal life from his fans and the press. He criticizes them for viewing him as a “black and white” person and not seeing him for what most humans are: complicated. It’s a very stripped down track with mild percussion and minimal backing vocals which is the only time on the record I found it appropriate for a song with vulnerable content.
“You can say I’m too young / You can say I’m too old / You can say I like girls or boys / Whatever fits your mold,” sings Mendes.
The final two tracks end this album on a high note. “Rollin’ Right Along” is a country anthem, something very unexpected and unseen from Mendes in his career so far. This track has campfire song energy with choir-like harmonies and a twangy acoustic. The lyrics for this track are bittersweet and make this a certified country classic. Mendes’ vocals in this track are so soft but still powerful and alluring. I love that he started an acapella section at the end just to pick it back up with fun backing vocals, strings and soft percussion to resolve on a carefree note.
The final song on the record is a cover of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. The song is mostly a single vocal track with a quiet acoustic guitar and strings. This song is notoriously hard to sing but I think Mendes did a tremendous job.
Although there were a few tracks on the record I enjoyed, the album as a whole really fell short of my expectations. Fans waited four years for Mendes to release a twelve track album with a 33 minute run-time that ended up being mellow and uneventful. Certain tracks seemed rather rushed and not fleshed out, some running under two minutes that could have been a lot longer if he spent more time on production and writing more elegant lyrics.
Mendes’ previous works have heavy production that helped carry the project and this album did not deliver. The purpose of this record was for it to be more stripped back and show Mendes’ raw personality. I believe he still could have added more atmosphere to make some of the tracks more engaging. I wish he leaned more into the country genre for this album, and decided which genre he wanted. It felt like he was walking a tightrope of pop and country, simply could not decide, and mixed them both. The genre mix would have worked if all of the songs on the record were cohesive, but the tracks failed to meet that expectation. I was thoroughly pleased with the tracks that had a country flair to them, and I hope to see Mendes dive deeper into that genre in the future.
