After some delays, on November 15, Shawn Mendes will release his new album, Shawn, from which he’s already shared a few songs. These tracks make it clear that the Canadian artist is ready to bare his soul to his audience, addressing his personal struggles. That openness is reflected in the album title, which he’s named after himself.
A few days ago in New York, Mendes debuted one of these new songs, ‘The Mountain,’ where he addresses one of the topics that has drawn a lot of attention over the years: his sexuality. Despite having only been publicly linked to women — most famously, Camila Cabello — questions about his sexual orientation have circulated. Mendes is aware of these conversations and hasn’t shied away from them. Instead, he’s made them the focus of his music.
“You can say / I’m too young / You can say / I’m too old / You can say / I like girls or boys / Whatеver fits your mold / You can say / I’m a fool,” he sings in this new track.
He presented the song live, and before performing it, he shared his thoughts: “Since I was very young, there’s always been this thing about my sexuality, and people have talked about it for a long time. I think it’s a bit silly because sexuality is a beautifully complex thing, and it’s tough to put it into boxes.”
Mendes acknowledges that he still hasn’t completely figured it out and feels that “sometimes it feels like an intrusion into something very personal, something that I had yet to discover, and still have yet to discover.”
It seems he has found music to be a powerful outlet to express what he feels on this topic: “I wrote this song because it felt important to me. There was a time when I felt my heart was closed off, and I hope that by speaking freely now, I can be closer to everyone with the truth of my life.”
This has been a liberating experience for him: “The real truth about my life and sexuality is that, like everyone else, I’m just figuring out what it’s all about. And I don’t really know sometimes and I know other times. It’s scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about it, but I’m trying to be really brave and allow myself to be human and feel things. That’s all I want.”
With that, he launched into the song. His words have since gone viral on social media, where many are applauding his bravery. Many people resonate with this journey of self-discovery and the uncertainty around something that defines one’s personal identity but doesn’t always fit neatly into a label.
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