After a cancelled world tour and a break from the spotlight, singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes has finally released his fifth album, Shawn. The Pickering, Ontario-born star has said the record gets very personal: in the New York Times he explained that he wished to "break down any walls that were remaining, between me and people listening."

Out of 12 tracks in total, including previously released singles "Nobody Knows" and the country-folk leaning "Why Why Why," these are the standout songs from Shawn.

For years, Mendes has walked the celebrity tightrope between letting fans in on his personal life and holding some things close in the name of personal preservation. In interviews, he's spoken at length about putting pressure on himself due to the spotlight. Now, he's taking a different approach: "Honestly, I just really care about being happy," he told NME. "Who I Am," the tender album opener, begins by carrying forward that goal with honesty. The song reveals that as he weighs the expectations of others, Mendes is still trying to find the right balance for himself: "'Cause I don't really know who I am right now/ no, I don't really know who I am right now," he admits on the chorus. By beginning with such a direct statement, Mendes sets the album up as a diary and pours his heart out with intention. The song is his way of starting the arduous journey of self-discovery and by the end, Mendes sounds prepared to take on the work.

A previously released single, "Heart of Gold" is a heartbreaker on which Mendes opens up about a friend who died from an overdose: "I didn't cry, I didn't even feel the pain/ and then it hit me all at once/ when we talked about you yesterday." The song is a swift gut punch that soars with an uptempo, stomp-clap-hey chorus and warm harmonies. As moving and sad as the lyrics are, Mendes creates the space for some joy in honouring his friend's memory when singing about seeing him up in the stars. "It's about grieving those we miss. The tears," he shared during his performance of the song in New York in October. "And it's also about celebrating them. Who they were, and what they loved in this world."

There is a sense throughout Shawn that Mendes is in the midst of unpacking a whole lot of emotional turmoil, and although it's not the first time he's broached topics like depression, the loneliness of celebrity or relationship woes in his music, there's a raw simplicity to his delivery on this album that feels especially vulnerable. It's as if Mendes has finally gone below the surface of his emotions, down deep into the bone marrow. "Heavy" comes at the midpoint of the album as a cathartic release, buoyed by a chorus showcasing Mendes's voice at its best: soaring, raspy and pleading. The melody is simple, led by acoustic guitar and piano, allowing his vocals to do the heavy lifting. When the gospel choir comes in on the second chorus, the song breaks free and Mendes releases any previous hesitancy to let his whole heart spill out. In the pre-chorus he sings: "I'm tired of all these nights awake/ carrying this weight," and the "It's been so heavy" that follows is packed with pain. "Heavy" is an admission that he can't hold all of it in any longer, and that he's finally ready to reach out for help. When he plays it on tour there won't be a dry eye in the room.

It's definitely the trend for more and more artists to lean into country music in 2024, and Mendes is no exception. "That'll Be the Day" begins with a sparse guitar while Mendes mourns a lost love, admitting that, from his side at least, "This love is here to stay." By the time the soft mandolin and "ooos" of the background singers join in, it's not hard to picture this song being performed at the Grand Ole Opry. We can chalk that influence up to Chris Thile, who plays mandolin on the track and is also one of the co-writers. Thile is best known for his work in blue grass bands Nickel Creek, and the Punch Brothers, as well as being the host of the variety show A Prairie Home Companion. That said, even with the slight dusting of country, "That'll Be the Day" is still very much a Mendes song, whether it's because of lines like "Even if I try, I'll be wasting breath, I'll be faking sex, 'cause you'll be on my mind," or him confessing that he won't be over his ex until he's "six feet under ground."

"If I'm not all in, then I'm all out," Mendes sings in the opening lines of "In Between," a sentiment we've seen play out in real time during his much publicized romantic relationships. Mendes has become increasingly candid about those relationships via both songwriting and interviews, saying on a podcast in September 2024 that he and now ex-girlfriend Camila Cabello are "preserving [their] private little fire of love for each other." (Cabello, whom Mendes dated for two years and briefly again in 2023, said she was going to take an internet break just before the singer dropped his new album.) But as Mendes strums that simple earworm of a guitar riff on "In Between," he reveals that he might now be more open to a situationship, as he sings on the chorus: "But what about the in-betweens?/ You layin' your head on me/ livin' for the next time that we touch/ isn't that enough?" You can hear a smile on his face as he transitions from verse to chorus, playing with the idea of impermanence. The song is warm and inviting for its guitar tone alone, but hearing Mendes be a bit gentler on himself is also nice to hear.

The simple acoustic guitar that floats along on "The Mountain" affords Mendes a simple canvas on which he can share some of his most vulnerable and candid lyricism. On the chorus of the soft track, he gently sings: "You can say I like girls or boys/ whatever fits your mould." In October 2024 at his concert in Colorado, Mendes opened up about navigating his sexuality: "The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I'm just figuring it out like everyone. And I don't really know sometimes and I know other times, and it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that." On the verses, Mendes's words flow in a stream-of-consciousness-like release as he also gets transparent about speculation that he's in a cult and how his global travels have transformed him. But instead of sounding dispirited by the ups and downs of self-discovery, Mendes's voice rings out in a joyous way by the end of the song: "You can say I'm too far gone/ but I've nеver been better/ so call it what you want." Mendes has finally taken himself off a pedestal and given himself the grace to make mistakes, change his mind and simply be human.