Shawn Mende’s Sophomore Album Illuminate

The world first met Shawn Mendes on Vine in 2013; since then he has grown immensely, from opening for Taylor Swift on her sold out 1989 World Tour, to having his debut album Handwritten go number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Shawn’s second studio album Illuminate, was recently released and is already on top of the charts with songs like “Treat You Better” and “Mercy.”

You can really see in Shawn’s music where he gets his inspiration from. His first album had a really big Ed Sheeran vibe, with fast lyrics and acoustic sounds. Most of the songs off this album are slow ballads with very strong lyrics and meaning about love and life. This time Illuminate has more of a really strong John Mayer feel; again strong acoustic guitar and has a little folky soul sound.

Take “Ruin,” the very first song on the album as an example, sounds so much like Gravity by John Mayer it’s really good but couldn’t stop thinking John, John, John, the whole time. “Don’t be a Fool” also has a similar soul sound to it. As I went through the whole thing couldn’t help recognize all the John Mayer sounds like the guitar sounds and over all beat and vibe. Lost count of how many similarities I found.

Now don’t get me wrong, yes he has a big soul folk sound in this album and it might sound very familiar but it’s really good. Shawn gives his own twist to the sound. His album and previous music is categorized as pop and although not a lot of Illuminate sounds pop he does have some more pop sounding songs. His first single off the album “Treat You Better,” or “No Promises,” and “Patience” they actual do sound pop. Those three in my opinion are the worst ones on the album. Your voice is just too good to do catchy annoying pop songs Shawn, just saying.

Overall the album was good, his vocals are amazing which that’s really what makes him so great. At first I didn’t take Shawn’s music seriously because of how he started out on social media and 90% of the musicians who get their start on the internet are autotune sell outs that can’t even write a sentence let alone a chorus. Thankfully Shawn didn’t fall into that stereotype and actually makes good music. Illuminate is already his second album at only age 18, I have a feeling we still have lots come from Shawn Mendes.

Illuminate World Tour Dates 2017                                 

North America

7/6 Portland, OR – MODA Center

7/8 Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena

7/9 Seattle, WA – KeyArena at Seattle Center

7/11 Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena

7/12 Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center

7/14 San Diego, CA – Valley View Casino Center

7/15 Glendale, AZ – Gila River Arena

7/17 Denver, CO – Pepsi Center

7/19 Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center

7/21 San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center

7/22 Houston, TX – Toyota Center

7/25 Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena

7/26 Miami, FL – AmericanAirlines Arena

7/28 Orlando, FL – Amway Center

7/29 Duluth, GA – Infinite Energy Arena

7/31 Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena

8/2 Cleveland, OH – Quicken Loans Arena

8/3 Chicago, IL – Allstate Arena

8/5 Omaha, NE – CenturyLink Center Omaha

8/6 St. Paul, MN – Exel Energy Center

8/14 Montreal, QC – Centre Bell

8/19 Washington DC – Verizon Center

8/20 Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena

8/23 Boston, MA – TD Garden