After his two year-long break from music, Shawn Mendes has made a comeback with his new self titled album, Shawn. The album consists of 12 songs, each portraying emotions Mendes had previously been hesitant to share. It is available to listen on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms. He also announced his new “For Friends and Family Only” tour for 2024-2025, exciting the Mendes Army all across the globe.
Before releasing the whole album, he released four songs as a preview. The first was “Why, Why, Why,” then “Heart of Gold,” “Isn’t That Enough,” and “Nobody Knows,” following. Throughout the album, a recurring theme is seen: mental health. After cancelling “Wonder: The World Tour” in 2022 because of mental health struggles, he’s made an effort in prioritizing personal healing. In many of these new songs, especially “Who I Am,” he addresses the indecision experienced in choosing to cancel his last tour. He also addresses the difficulties in returning to fame and music in “Why, Why, Why,” where he sings “I stepped off the stage with nothing left.” Overall, he opens up about the feeling of losing himself and coping with life’s changes.
Christine Prugue (11) is one of the many fans who are glad to have Mendes back on stage.
After asking her why she likes him, she said “I like him because I grew up listening to him, and his music brings me a lot of nostalgia.”
Prugue said these songs were a big part of her childhood, hence causing her to associate the artist with past memories. “I definitely listen to him a lot less now, but I know his new album came out so I might have to listen to that,” she said.
Nalia Viau (11), another fan of Mendes’s music, says she likes his songs because they’re “fun to sing along to and catchy” like “Stitches”. After being disappointed by the cancellation of “Wonder: The World Tour,” she is very excited about this new tour and album.
Back in 2021, Shawn had cancelled his multimillion dollar Wonder Tour after what he referred to as a mental health breaking point. During this time, he was going through severe depression, where he had trouble recognizing himself every time he stepped offstage. Although he feared letting his fans down, he ended up choosing to cancel the circuit in order to take some time to find himself again.
Mendes has already performed in several locations such as Mexico, Canada, and Germany. He is continuously advertising Shawn, the album, on his social media accounts and frequently posting snippets of his newer songs.
Although he hasn’t fully finished his mental health journey, he’s only moving further and further forward and fans are supporting him each step of the way.
