Shawn Mendes, a Canadian singer-songwriter, is set to release his third studio album on May 25 which includes hit singles, “In My Blood,” “Lost In Japan” and “Youth.” Mendes’ heartfelt attitude first attracted listeners when he uploaded song covers on Vine in 2013.
Since rising in the spotlight with millions of screaming fans, he continues to turn out beautifully-written lyrics as he is heavily involved in the writing process since his debut “Shawn Mendes: The EP.”
Starting out with an incredible EP including fan favorites “Life of the Party” and “Show You,” Mendes has since gone on to release his debut album “Handwritten” and 2016 smash hit “Illuminate.” Immediately after releasing “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back” as a single towards his “Illuminate: Deluxe Edition” in April 2017, fans started anticipating the release of “SM3.”
Mendes officially announced in his April 25 Instagram post that “Shawn Mendes: The Album” is available for pre-order along with the release date and full tracklist. On May 8, he announced the dates for his self-titled 2019 world tour with dates for Europe, United Kingdom and North America.
From singing on Vine in 2013 to headlining his first tour in 2014 following the release of his self-titled debut EP on July 28, 2014, Shawn Mendes keeps raising the bar in his career. He hit the ground running after signing with Island Records in May 2014 and releasing his first lyric video, “The Weight,” on Aug. 3.
His songwriting keeps growing, yet his songs still either pull at fans’ heartstrings or make them want to dance. The most consistent lyrical vibe is the emotional words and passion in his voice, and Mendes creates music that anyone can relate to no matter their age.
As a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, he sang about struggling with a breakup with someone he loved and trying to “lift the weight” of the pain, as he sings in “The Weight.” Fans are treated to a lyric video with him and his face expresses every emotion ranging from hurt to confusion.
Mendes continues to release tracks that create different emotions. Listeners can experience his relationship heartache in “The Weight” to crushing on an outgoing girl that “he wants to follow where she goes” in “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back.”
Shawn Mendes never ceases to blow fans away. “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back” shows that falling in love with a fictional character can create a beautifully-raw song. Mendes doesn’t stop there with emotionally-driven lyrics as he started teasing new music back in February while on vacation. Yet, the official dates only came a week before the release of “In My Blood” on March 22 and “Lost In Japan” on March 23.
After months of keeping new music under wraps, Mendes dropped two songs on March 22 and 23 towards his forthcoming self-titled album. Although he has released many songs previous Mendes shares with Billboard that he loves all of his songs, but the lyrics were “more vague topics about a relationship.” He says he is proud of “In My Blood,” because this is his “first time breaking into something that’s more serious and more about me.”
The lyrics play out someone dealing with the overwhelming effects that anxiety brings but knowing that giving up isn’t the only option. On April 24, Mendes dropped the official video which matches the heartfelt lyrics that fans already looped on repeat for a solid month.
During the video, Mendes sings while laying down as the world around him crumbles, but as the song continues flowers begin to grow around him reminding viewers that life is beautiful.
The vibe changed as March 23 rolled around and “Lost In Japan” hit the world with groovy R&B chords behind lyrics that seem to talk about a girl as he sings, “can’t get you off my mind.” If fans have learned anything from “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back” inspiration, then they know to not speculate the lyrics’ meaning too much. In typical Shawn Mendes fashion, the song came to him through a dream about being “lost in a country.”
On May 1, Mendes announced on his twitter the first collaboration would drop on May 3 at noon EST. Teaming up with Khalid for “Youth,” the duet is a tribute for the victims of last summer’s bombings in the U.K. and a positive way to say, no one should take anyone’s youth away. Mendes knew the song was a huge task because the times the world was in, but he knew their voices could reach everyone with one song.
“The whole thought of my youth trying to be taken away from me [was overwhelming]. Not youth as in my age — youth as in my love, my happiness, my joy, my purity,” Mendes says to E! News, “It’s not even about age; you could be 50 and your youth is there. It’s in you. And all of these horrible things happening in the world, all of the headlines, it felt like every day it was just being pulled more and more out of us.”
“Shawn Mendes: The Album” is already a huge hit with only three released songs. Each single thus far has a very unique vibe, “In My Blood” captures the raw side of Mendes, while “Lost In Japan” shows a more spontaneous side and “Youth” projects his views to the world.
The album came about through listening to songs by Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Kings of Leon and Daniel Caesar which is why the songs “are a bit all over the place,” Mendes explains to Billboard. Only a week after the third song dropped, he announced that he is hitting the road on the “Shawn Mendes: The Tour” in 2019.
Beginning March 7, 2019, Shawn Mendes is set to kick off his world tour for his third studio album in Amsterdam, NL, which is the beginning on his Europe and U.K. Dates. Ending on April 17 in London, U.K., ahead of his month off before starting North America dates on June 12 in Portland, OR. Fans can catch his show until he wraps up on August 8 in Brooklyn, NY.
Mendes grows in his music and ways of conveying deeper meanings as he prepares to release his 2018 self-titled album. Fans already know this project is going to be one of his best because so far, each song is lyrically different with background music that makes listeners want to sing along instantly. “Shawn Mendes: The Album” already looking to be an excellent summer hit.
