Maybe Shawn got lazy once he hit a successful formula, or maybe his record label forced him to recreate "Stitches" as a safe bet to ensure album sales and radio play. The entire album is a superficial recreation of "Stitches" in various emotional incarnations. (Except for "Stitches," the successful one.) But on Illuminate, Shawn fails to venture into deeper territory thematically. His heart-on-his-sleeve attitude went beyond his image: his songs were actually self-written confessional ballads. In that case, the album is an even bigger failure, because it fails to illuminate anything. What does ill-um-in-it even mean? Why not just say illuminated? Shawn pronounces it ill-um-in-it, as if he thinks he is inventing a new word just by pronouncing "illuminate" differently. The first issue with the album is its title: Illuminate. He probably should have waited a bit longer to release it. Illuminate fails to showcase any artistic evolution for Mendes.
Considering the guitar tattoo on his arm and the fact that he didn’t even co-write his biggest hit ("Stitches"), he was probably just overeager. This could be a sign of two things: either Mendes is a prolific writer, or just very eager.
Shawn Mendes released his sophomore album only a year after his debut.
Review Summary: Shawn Mendes is no James Taylor, or even Ed Sheeran
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