Shawn Mendes "Wonder" Album Review

Shawn Mendes has made a huge impact on the music industry today. His discovery of love and confidence has been known in his new music. That is true based on his new album Wonder, which came out December 4th, 2020.

It’s a group of songs about self-doubt and discovery which interprets self love. This album was inspired through his anxiety with his young starting fame and dealing with the fame now. He deals with feelings of emptiness and loneliness through the lyrics of his music. The lyrics are a little more deeper and tragic compare to his past songs.

The “Intro” of the album opener starts off with “You have a million different faces/But they’ll never understand.” He sounds most alive and free when he sings more in agony. One of his songs named “Call My Friends” pictures loneliness and what happens when there’s no room for a partner on fame’s ride.

His album “Wonder” is a little less perfect than Illuminate, which released back in 2016. The lyrics to his new album meander into true and deep sentiment. He has a way to portray his voice from down to more please. One of the songs that stuck out the most to me was “Look Up at the Stars”, which is a love song about the relationship between idols and idolizers. Mendes sings to “The universe is ours/And I’m not gonna let you down” like someone understands him and that he’ll never be alone because of his support system.

Justin Bieber, who duets Mendes on “Monster”, performs with Mendes in heart wrenching fashion. The lyrics show a sound of understanding on Justin’s part because he comes from the same history of rising to fame at such a young age. He sounds exhausted over it and wanting a way out. He plays as an older brother to Mendes letting him know how cruel people can be and how to deal with it.

From there the album flows to its conclusion, closing to a short number that ends on a human, intimate note. Every song on this album has a special meaning that ties in to how he feels. It has a number of dynamics playing out. Mendes went full out on his album Wonder, so I feel what comes next can be even bigger and open.