After I left Shawn Mendes’s concert in 2019, I was convinced that he could never write a bad song — I was wrong. Mendes’ newest album release on Dec. 4, “Wonder,” does not live up to the expectations he set for himself, even though his music has been on the radio repeatedly since 2015.

Mendes released the single “Wonder” as a way to announce his album and set the stage for the music the rest of the album would have to offer. “Wonder” is an amazing song that makes you feel like you’re flying, yet the rest of the “Wonder” album does not capture a similar feel. I expected the whole album to have a larger-than-life feel that the song “Wonder” did, yet all of the songs have a monotonously slow rhythm.

Mendes takes a different approach to this album than his previous ones, using more of a 60’s vibe and a choir-like singing in the background of most songs. In an interview about his most recent album release, Mendes talks about how the most influential song to his album was “Can’t take my eyes off you” by Frankie Valli, which Mendes covers on his album.

While I disliked most of the music in “Wonder,” the songs “Piece of you” and “Call my Friends” stood out. “Piece of you” has that dream-like feeling similar to “Wonder” and “Call my Friends” has a unique message of Mendes expressing how he misses his friends after being on tour for a while.

“Right now, I’m alone inside the airport // And you’re all at a bar in our hometown // Feels like we’ve been living different lives.”

Another song that stood out was the iconic song “Monster,” featuring Justin Bieber. Any time two major artists collaborate on a song, it never disappoints: “Monster” follows this trend. Between the catchy background beat, Mendes outstanding vocal range and Bieber’s meaningful verse, this is one of the best songs on the album. Bieber’s verse about growing up in the spotlight is an interesting message for an artist to share, reflecting the song’s rarity.

“I was fifteen when the world put me on a pedestal // I had big dreams of doin’ shows and making memories // Made some bad moves tryin’ to act cool, upset by their jealousy.”

Even though this album wasn’t one of my favorites from Shawn Mendes, there are still a few amazing songs that would be a great addition to any playlist.