Review: Shawn Mendes ‘Wonder’: An adventurous record with a loose end
Since his days as a 14-year-old Vine sensation, Shawn Mendes has worked towards sounds establishing his musical maturity.
On December 4th, Shawn Mendes latest album ‘Wonder’ debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter promised an ambitious record, presenting it as being “the most vulnerable piece of art he’s ever done.” But, if the interlude and first single seduced the audience at first, the mushy serenades dedicated to pop-star girlfriend Camila Cabello, stripped away the appeal. While looking deeper into the wonders of Canada’s sweetheart, it seems that the intention to write a raw, vulnerable and overall “freeing” album was tarnished by its inconsistent production and incohesive rhythmic deliveries.
The album follows up the release of the singer’s Netflix documentary: ‘Shawn Mendes: In Wonder’ in which he presents a vulnerable self-portrait and allows the public to have a glimpse of his life behind the scenes and writing process. As the documentary unfolds, the viewer observes the 22-year-old pop star navigating through the magnitude of his success and what it means when it comes to finding a balance between his desire to live a normal life and the ambition of becoming the best artist of his generation. The documentary promotes his new release as it entirely echoes the narrative of the singer’s fourth album and gives us a deeper understanding of the artist’s thoughts.
The ‘intro’ sounds like the epitome of nostalgia and impeccably sets the scene for the first track, ‘Wonder’ and its vintage inspiration. It is most likely the richest song in terms of its lyrical quality as the singer evokes important themes relating to social issues such as toxic masculinity or the BLM movement when questioning whether ‘wouldn’t it be nice to live inside a world that isn’t black and white?” The grandiose atmosphere, enhanced by the dramatic drums and backing choirs, is similar his the 3rd single; ‘Call My Friends’. The strength of his (improved) vocals carries out strong messages and offers music to which most people can relate to. However, meanwhile, Mendes’ previous album has largely been praised within the music industry for exploring themes such as anxiety with ‘In My Blood’ or political issues with ‘Youth’ (feat. Khalid), it feels like Shawn’s latest work focuses too much on his romance and comes across as unoriginal.
If the instrumentality of this musically adventurous album reflects this statement, it seems that the lyrical flatness, overwhelming Hymne à l’Amour to Camila Cabello and lack of production tinted this promising piece of work. Indeed, while his last track ‘Can’t Imagine’ wishes to feel raw and emotional, his shaky vocals and unedited melody give off the impression of an unfinished demo.
The album’s imbalance is mainly brought out by the emotional idealism of songs such as ‘Can’t Imagine’ or, ‘Piece of You’ and uneven production. From a melodic point of view, the album sounds adventurous yet, falls short lyrically. Although ‘Wonder’ is less polished than Mendes’ previous work, his vocals are filled with emotions and the feeling of personal growth brought out by the dynamics of some tracks such as ‘Always Been You’ still creates an evolved and pleasant-sounding album.
This review was written within the frame of my degree for the module Introduction to Journalism at the University of Brighton and was assessed in February 2021.
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