Shawn Mendes’ folksy act isn’t convincing on Shawn

The Gen Z Vine-turned-serious-artist had been steadily pumping out teen pop since 2014, and has, with 2018’s Shawn Mendes and 2020’s Wonder, proven himself to have some staying power. Unlike his early work that skewed juvenile (his debut was released when he was 17), later hits like “In My Blood”, “Lost In Japan”, or “Wonder” showed artistic growth. But in 2022, he canceled the majority of a world tour because of deteriorating mental health. It shouldn’t be surprising he’s so open about this stuff: “In My Blood”, Shawn Mendes’ lead single, opens with “Help me.”

In simplistic terms, he packed up and went off to the woods for a bit, retreating from stardom and writing songs in upstate New York when he was ready to think about himself again. Shawn, his second self-titled album, arrives in a folksy veneer, promising self-reflection and a maturation of ideas. This is the real me, it seems he says. “Everything’s hard to explain out loud,” he says on the first track, “I don’t really know who I am right now.”

It’s kind of easy to tell. Despite Shawn’s picture-perfect brand refresh, it’s as see-through of an act as you can get. He’s been posting sepia-toned shirtless videos strumming a guitar, next to a creek or a forest, and the resulting record is flanked with country twang, Americana boot-stomping, and whispery ballads. He looks out at you soulfully on the cover – Woah, you’re supposed to say, He’s grown up. He tells you as much on “The Mountain”, advertising his personal development while traversing the earth’s beauty. But even as he recognizes it might be a farce (“I spent a week in the jungle / Swore I came out a new man / Back in LA I was humbled / Turns out I don’t understand”), the music hasn’t caught up; the finger-plucking continues.

To his credit, his writing has improved. In interviews he’s been touting names like Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan as inspiration for the record, and even though he doesn’t live up to it (who would?), the alone time had its benefits. A lot of his comments note life’s small mundanities: “My friends stay patient / My mother still calls for the news / Isn’t that enough?” he asks, and on “That’s the Dream”, he confirms that it is enough – the push and pull is part of the beauty. “Why Why Why” even questions his career, noting the cyclical nature of stardom. “Feels like there’s nothing new for me to say,” he mentions, even though he’ll spend the rest of the album trying his best (he succeeds at moments).

Revelations abound – he was due to be a father, an on-again off-and-relationship had helped him down from the ledge, and he offers a non-comment on the questions regarding his sexuality. “You can say I like girls or boys / Whatever fits your mold,” a classy way to handle it in a song that’s all about what people think of you. He fakes orgasms with people and adopts a doomed view of relationships, too, no matter who they’re with. “If it doesn’t end with a ring, is it just sex?” he asks, “If it isn’t black and white, then it’s onto the next.” I suppose so, and this is a good, quite dark observation – one you’d expect being more present in the faux nirvana the rest of the album boasts.

For all that Shawn overperforms, though, there are some, frankly, ridiculous productions of genre that land flat. Depending on how privy you are to the folky bits, you might take him at his word, but the stripped-back guitar performances and hee-haw symbolism land with an eyeroll. All the talk of running away from home, the summer camp visuals of the music videos, the tacked-on cover of “Hallelujah” he’s been touring with, the light strumming, the whispery countdown at the beginning of the first track, the campfire whistling that closes out “Isn’t That Enough” – it’s just way too much. Mendes basically bludgeons you over the head with his folksiness in a way that essentially reverses the genre’s inherent chill.

Shawn sounds great if this was your first time hearing of Shawn Mendes – his voice actually does work well with the tracks, and on the anthemic cuts of “Why Why Why” or “Heavy”, he gives his all. There’s a nice blend of folk, country, and while it’s a step in the direction for Mendes the Artist (and the Human), there’s a line between performance and genuineness. Mendes slightly oversteps it with an ill-fitting cowboy boot.