Shawn Mendes never misses. Every album he puts out is a hit for his fans and on the charts. Mendes has had a busy two months as he ended that reign on Dec. 4 with the release of his fourth studio album. He preceded the release with the single “Wonder” and two documentaries on Netflix. This long-anticipated album not only was a seamless addition to his discography, but it was a new obsession for Mendes fans. 

   The album starts off with a minute song titled “Intro”; this song alone is amazing and only creates more excitement for the rest of the album. There are less slow ballads, but many of the songs bridge between the slow and fast paced beat. Songs like “Call My Friends,” “Look Up at the Stars,” “Piece of You” and “Always Been You” have the same style, where they start off slow and like the classic Shawn Mendes song; they then pick up the pace, which is a bit different from his last albums. 

  All the songs are obviously written by him in that the songs tell a story of his love with his longtime girlfriend, Camila Calbello. This album experiments more with beats rather than Mendes’s classic guitar or piano accompaniment. Some songs like “Can’t Imagine” and “Look Up At the Stars” are songs that are the classic Shawn Mendes ballad. 

    My personal favorites on the album are “Call My Friends,” “24 Hours,” “Intro” and “Monster” with Justin Beiber. Yet, the entire album is a wonderfully constructed masterpiece. 

 None of the songs are skips, and this album was what we were missing and anticipating for two years. This album fits in with the rest of his discography in that these are classic love songs and some songs have his classic piano or guitar accompaniment. It’s different in that the lyrics are more mature and there are more upbeat songs that are not present on his last three albums. Overall, the album was worth the wait, and Mendes completed 2020 on the happiest note.