Saturday, November 23, 2024

Popster Shawn Mendes is Back After 4 Years, Kinda, With Two New Songs on Slow Take Off

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You’d have to go back five years to remember when Shawn Mendes was hot on the pop charts.

It was 2019 when he and Camila Cabello were number 1 with “Senorita.”

Mendes — who turned 26 yesterday — had two more hits in 2020, one with Justin Bieber, and then started a fade out. He stopped touring and mostly recording or having a career while he dealt with mental health issues. (He also had trouble, and still does, finding a shirt.)

Now Mendes is back today with two new songs preceding an album release in October. So far this morning, “Why Why Why” has had an uneasy launch, currently at 74 on iTunes. The other song, “Isn’t that Enough,” hasn’t charted yet.

Mendes apparently played a small show last night in Woodstock, NY. He has a few more coming up including one on the album’s release, October 18th, in Brooklyn. He’s coming back in small steps.

Mendes has pretty much missed four years of his career. That’s okay when you’re older, but when you’re establishing yourself four years is a high school cycle. So now he has turn to more adult listeners and rebuild. He’s a very good songwriter. I was at his actual first show years ago at the then Nokia Theater in Times Square (my nieces, who were 14, insisted on it). How will this all play out? Last night, Mendes played a birthday show in Woodstock. He’s taking it easy, starting with small shows in London next, then back here.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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