Blogocentric Formulations

When You're Gone

         

| Day 4 |





"When You're Gone"
by Shawn Mendes

This is the latest single by Shawn Mendes, released in March 2022. I've really enjoyed a lot of Mendes' work over the years, since his debut album Handwritten in 2015. I think he's a really talented songwriter, and has found a great mix of pop, rock, and folk sounds that really complement his voice. More that that, though, I really like the fact that he's not afraid to tackle really difficult topics in his songs, including his own battles with depression and anxiety.

Around the time of his last album release (Wonder, in 2020), a documentary filmmaker followed Shawn around and depicted his everyday life both onstage and offstage, eventually turning the footage into the documentary Shawn Mendes: In Wonder which was released by Netflix in November 2020. I'll admit I'm a sucker for musician documentaries (I've also watched the ones from Taylor Swift, P!nk, and Selena Gomez... and I really want to watch the ones from Lizzo and Shania Twain), and his came off as pretty honest and down-to-earth. Which is kind of the point of putting them out, but hey, hey succeeded.

It'll be interesting to see where he goes from here; he clearly finds music therapeutic and loves to perform, but he canceled Wonder: The World Tour early in 2022 (around the time this song was released) after only playing seven of 64 total dates, citing mental health issues. It's unclear where his career will go from here, but I do hope he puts out another album at some point because I really like his music and I think the messages in it are important to his fans, many of whom are fans because his music speaks to their own battles with anxiety and depression.