Shawn Mendes- Illuminate Review

Shawn Mendes- Illuminate Review

Starting his career back in 2013, a 17-year-old by the name of Shawn Mendes took Vine by storm with his six-second cover songs; proving to be extremely popular he became the most-followed musician on the platform by August 2014. Skip to January 2016, almost a year after its initial release and the UK's realises the talent and'Stitches' storms to number one; and here we are today with his second album Illuminate, released on the 23rd of September 2016.

Before this album is reviewed, from his immense success, it is easy to say that whether he succeeds or not, Shawn Mendes is already on the right path for an successful and long career. Still only 18 years old, he has already made a name for himself as a legitimate performer, with performance tested similar to those of acoustic performer Ed Sheeran.

To top this off, Shawn Mendes is a co-writer on every song on "Illuminate," which is largely produced by Jake Gosling, who is also known for working with Ed Sheeran.. There feel of the album is very raw, the tone is refreshingly straightforward and to the point , and there are no distractions from the message of this soulful album.

It is undeniable that his ever developing maturity has allowed Mendes to create deeper, more meaningful lyrics to those in his debut album ‘Handwritten’. The delicate tone of "Ruin," followed by an almost flirtatious tease with “Lights On," a sense of maturity on "No Promises" and an almost relaxing introduction of humming with "Mercy" which quickly turns to Mendes belting through the song's climax. A literal lyrical sense of home is introduced on "Like This," the lead single from the album "Treat You Better"contains a catchy guitar riff and effective hook, similar to number one single stitches and the more lyrically darker, more complex, acoustic orientated song "Bad Reputation."

The only thing I could possible define as a slight disappointment, is the recurring theme of love and relationships which seem to run through almost every song. Although he is still only 18, in the future I would love to see some deeper, possibly darker lyrics that confront other topics.

Despite this, it is undeniable that Shawn Mendes is an artist of authenticity, one that truly enjoys the hard work that goes into writing, recording and producing an album. He is truly talented and sports a very large and dedicated fan base which I'm sure will secure him his future long-term success in the music industry.