Nick Krewen

Special To The Star

SHAWN MENDES

 Wonder

 Island Records

Wonder, the fourth studio album from Pickering pop sensation Shawn Mendes, is a game changer for the lad.

 In a process that began with his self-titled album from 2018, Mendes has largely left the folkish, boyish strains of acoustic guitar behind and settled more for a piano- and-electronic-keyboard sound that sonically bounces between intimate tenderness and epic explosiveness.

Mendes has also largely abandoned his prior associates – most notably co-writer and producer Teddy Geiger – to throw his hat in with Brit overseer Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles) and Toronto’s own Frank Dukes, whose sample influence is all over the album’s previously released single, “Wonder,” with its extravagant chorale sample setting the song’s mood – although he retains co-writer Scott Harris for 12 of the 14 romance-driven tunes that comprise the effort.

So what is Wonder about? 

Aside from the occasional profound lyric – in “Intro,” it’s the lines, “You have a million different faces/but they’ll never understand” and in “Wonder,” it’s, “I wonder/if I’m being real/ Do I speak my truth or do I filter how I feel/ I wonder/if it would be nice/to live inside a world that isn’t black and white” – this whole thing is about the woman who puts an extra pep into Mendes’ step – Camila Cabello.

This is one mushy love letter that goes from the elevated-heartbeat, pulse-quickening elation of the initial attraction (“Higher”) to the irresistible urge to shack up (“24 Hours”) to eagerly admiring the awe of your new companion (“Teach Me To Love”) to ignoring other parts of your life to the new distraction (“Call My Friends.”)

Throw in some slight jealousy (“Piece of You”) and the ache of loneliness when you’re forced apart (“305”) and Mendes has offered a pretty convincing assessment of the initial stages of romance.

But here’s where he excels: the songs never dip into eye-rolling maudlin sentimentality, which is why Wonder succeeds as the coming-of-age album Mendes’ fans always knew he had in him.

Like most albums today, Wonder is produced by committee -whether it’s the songwriting or the arrangements – and rarely has a group effort sounded so seamlessly agile.

Mendes stretches himself vocally – his soaring falsettos are of the quality that will unlock the screaming gene within his female contingent of fans should they see him in concert again – and the dynamic nuances contained with the arrangements provide jarring volume contrasts that emphasize a song’s emotional wallop without sacrificing or overdoing the quality.

When the driving beats and snappy choruses are implemented – as in songs like “Higher,” “305” and “Piece of You” – you will walk away from them humming the melodies long after you hear them.

And then there’s “Monster,” the long-awaited pairing of Mendes with his idol Justin Bieber, which is a Canadian tour-de-force of talent on display. 

Yeah, Mendes and Bieber’s voices blend harmoniously in a song that is designed to offer the Biebs an opportunity to chastise the critics about his growing up in a spotlight and passing judgement on him, but I’m more interested in the Toronto talent pool that powered this track: Frank Dukes (under his real name, Adam Feeney), Ashton Simmonds (known to the world as Daniel Caesar) and Mustafa Ahmed (Mustafa The Poet) with Bad Bad Not Good’s Matthew Tavares helping out on production.

It’s a wonderful showcase for the locally gifted creators.

Vancouver-based Tobias Jesso Jr. also has a hand in “The Intro” and “Always Been You” to round out a pretty impressive Canadian contingent that should benefit from this project.

In short, Wonder is a bright, brilliant and ear-pleasing pop masterpiece; a sturdy piece of musical architecture that Mendes needed to make at this juncture of his career to satisfy any creative doubts he may have internally harboured regarding his own abilities.

Through his newfound musical maturity, Shawn Mendes has swung for the fences and hit it out of the park.