Shawn Mendes released his latest new album Shawn Mendes on May 25, 2018. Fans eagerly waited for the release at midnight, and, overall, I was pleasantly surprised with his mixed-up, emotional album.

At first, the album seemed repetitive and a classic representation of Mendes’s talents; however when diving more deeply into each song, it was clear that they all had their own mood. The songs detail emotions of Mendes’s life and vary from upbeat to mellow. Five singles were released before the album itself, and certainly grabbed the attention of the listeners. “In my Blood”, which was released on March 22, could almost be classified as a rock song, and sounds like a cry for help that was certainly confusing to me.

Before doing some research, people may not know that Shawn wrote his album while experiencing anxiety. “In my Blood” is raw and highlights the true emotion that was put into these songs. Whether Mendes aimed to alert his listeners of his emotions or just showcase what he’s feeling, “In my Blood” is on my top five list of best songs in the album.

Right up there with “In my Blood” is “Mutual” which was released on May 25, along with the rest of the album. “Mutual” has a smooth, upbeat tone and won’t let you sit still. With a consistent flow of bass in the background, Mendes pours out his emotions in a song that encompasses his raspy voice, yet that hints of cheeriness that is best known about him. “Mutual” is hands down the best song on this album.

On the other hand, “Perfectly Wrong” was a bit of a gloomy piece that truly reflected the struggle that Mendes seems to be having as he writes in his songs. I had to listen to this song many times in order to really understand what he was saying because something seems to be very painful to him.This song is rich with his emotions over a girl, like most of his album, and solidifies his talents. “Perfectly Wrong” is a soulful, painful song and will make you shed a tear or two while listening. It is truly a reflection of how talented Shawn Mendes is.

The shift from rock anthem, to soul, to raw emotional songs in this album is a different quality compared to Mendes’s previous album “Illuminate”, which was released in 2016. While composing Illuminate, Mendes mainly stuck with his apologetic tone and fast paced voice. His current album is much more meaningful than the last one and utilizes more of his talents than before. I normally lean toward strictly pop albums, but Mendes’ genre mix up opened my eyes to a whole other type of experience.

One tremendous addition to the Shawn Mendes album was the collaboration with other artists. Khalid and Julia Michaels (harmonizes) both make appearances on Mendes’s album. Khalid is featured in the song “Youth” which encompasses a wonderful story of heartbreak and not wanting to grow up. Khalid adds a fresh, numbing tone to the song to pull the aching emotion from Mendes’s voice. The two voices in this track are perfectly complementary to each other. “Like to be You” is an impeccable song of harmonies between Mendes and Michaels to extract an extra feeling in the album. After listening to every song, it was clear that Mendes focused on girls and heartbreak which made it appropriate for Michaels to join in with him. Her addition was the cherry on top of the album.

I highly encourage all of you to listen to Mendes’s deep emotion in his album Shawn Mendes as it is a beautiful representation of his extraordinary talents and deserves to be shared.