{"product_id":"shawn-mendes","title":"Shawn Mendes","description":"Picking up the thread left dangling from 2016's Illuminate, Shawn Mendes decides to create an even more fashionable set of soulful pop on his eponymous 2018 album. Mendes remains a quivering adolescent presence -- he was still 19 years old when this album saw release -- but his self-titled record is assured and quietly confident in a way that suggests he has his adulthood on his mind. He doesn't abandon the soft-focus soul that turned \"Stitches\" into a breakthrough smash, but he deepens his groove and polishes his surfaces, all the while concentrating on crafting sturdy songs. Never mind that the album gets off to a shaky start with \"In My Blood,\" an anonymous arena rock number that suggests he equates playing rock to the rafters with real music, a notion that's dispelled by the remainder of the record. He builds Shawn Mendes on lithe, tuneful R\u0026amp;B numbers, happy to have songs be as mellowly effervescent as \"Queen\" or as modern as the gently pulsating \"Youth,\" which is graced by an appearance from Khalid. Mendes occupies a space between modern R\u0026amp;B and Ed Sheeran's earnest balladeering, but the key to his success -- both commercially and artistically -- is his light touch. There's a palpable sweetness to music that endures, even when a production is as bright and glistening as it is on Shawn Mendes. That bodes well for the future that Shawn Mendes is so evidently planning for. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine","brand":"MovieMars","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45421817331999,"sku":"602567569497","price":31.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/7833\/0399\/files\/4cb002269f5c201056774301120424e5_2db4a326-8dc8-4b7e-bca3-602788850550.jpg?v=1777680819","url":"https:\/\/www.moviemars.com\/products\/shawn-mendes","provider":"MovieMars","version":"1.0","type":"link"}