Glen LuchfordIf watching Shawn Mendes’ Netflix documentary In Wonder left you wanting to learn even more behind-the-scenes info about his songwriting process, check out his latest feature for Pitchfork.
In the new episode of the site’s “Critical Breakthroughs” video series, Shawn dives into the making of some of his biggest hits, including “Treat You Better,” “In My Blood,” “Señorita,” and his latest songs “Wonder” and “Monster.”
Among the tidbits Shawn reveals is that he was “really sick” the day he recorded “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” and that he really shouldn’t have been singing.
“The reason that chorus sounds like I’m on my last dying breath — in a good way, I’d like to think — is because I felt like I was!” he says. “But I was so excited about the song idea.”
As for the hit “Señorita,” Shawn said the song worked because of his budding relationship with now-girlfriend Camila Cabello.
“Camila, to this day, is just effortlessly incredible at singing,” he gushes. “…I think when you have tension with someone and you have feelings for someone, you kind of ride this line of tension and you know how to sing with them.”
Shawn also explains why it was “super intimidating” for him to duet with Justin Bieber on “Monster,” and shares snippets of how the idea for the song “Wonder” first came to him.
By Andrea Tuccillo
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
