Album "Shawn"

Shawn Mendes: Comeback with a soul striptease

Going through dark phases: Shawn Mendes deals with severe depression on his new album.

(Bild: Island)

Canadian pop star Shawn Mendes, who has been in the limelight since his teenage years, pulled the plug in 2022 in a complete surprise. He interrupted his two-year world tour and later canceled the remaining 90 or so concerts completely - due to mental problems. At the age of 26, Mendes is back with his album "Shawn". The twelve songs are not very euphoric.

"Sorry, but I have to do it, I have to disappoint you", the songwriter says to his fans right at the beginning of the album. In the 100-second opener "Who I Am", Mendes sings in his usual soft voice that it broke his heart to cancel his tour and that he doesn't know how to face his fans now.

The only exception
These honest and vulnerable words set the tone for an album that largely dispenses with feel-good pop hits. The only exception is one of the two songs with which Mendes returned two months ago. "Why Why Why" is not the classic modern pop song, but is limited - like almost the entire album - to an acoustic guitar and folk influences.

"I come from mainstream pop with lots of autotune and audio compression," said the 26-year-old in Interview Magazine. With these technical influences, voices are distorted and volume levels are compressed - loud and soft sounds are thus eliminated. Mendes has now dispensed with this on his album - making it sound natural and authentic.

Minimalist art
"Shawn" is definitely not an album that was produced for the modern TikTok age, with lyrics and melodies that are as catchy and danceable as possible. For the artist himself, this is also not the decisive factor. "I never thought that the most minimalist art I've ever made would give me so much back. It has already given me back so much more than all the albums before it."

"Shawn" is a soul striptease with stripped-back acoustics and honest words that sometimes come across with a certain lightness ("That's The Dream"), but sometimes also sound tearful ("In Between"). Fittingly, the album ends with a cover of one of the saddest-sounding songs in music history - Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".

A wish for life
Many fans will be grateful to Mendes for apparently allowing himself to look deep into his soul in his new songs. On the other hand, they wish the Canadian, in his mid-20s, would find more joy in life and convey it again in his music - like on his biggest hits "Señorita", "Treat You Better" or "There's Nothing Holding Me Back".