Shawn Mendes’ Skin-Deep Singer-Songwriter Aesthetic
Viewed through his sophomore album, Illuminate
Shawn Mendes released his sophomore album (Illuminate, 2016) only a year after his debut (Handwritten, 2015). This could be a sign of two things: either Mendes is a prolific writer, or just very eager. Considering the guitar tattoo on his forearm and the fact that he didn’t even co-write his biggest hit “Stitches,” he was probably just overeager. Illuminate fails to showcase any artistic evolution. Mendes probably should have waited a bit longer to release it.
The first issue with the album is its title: Illuminate. Shawn pronounces it ill-um-in-it, as if he thinks he is inventing a new word just by pronouncing “illuminate” differently. What does ill-um-in-it even mean? Why not just say illuminated?
In that case, the album is an even bigger failure, because it fails to illuminate anything. Shawn’s first album showed promise. His heart-on-his-sleeve attitude went beyond his image: his songs were actually self-written confessional ballads. (Except for “Stitches,” the successful one.) But on Illuminate, Shawn fails to venture into deeper territory thematically. The entire album superficially recreates “Stitches” in various emotional incarnations. Maybe Shawn got lazy once he hit a successful formula, or maybe his record label forced…
