''Wonder'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer

Shawn Mendes Shawn Peter Raul Mendes (; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian pop singer. He gained a following in 2013, when he posted song covers on the video sharing platform Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gert ...

. It was released by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

on December 4, 2020. Its production was handled by Mendes,

Frank Dukes Adam King Feeney (born September 12, 1983), better known as Ging and by his former stage name Frank Dukes, is a Canadian musician, record producer, and songwriter. A prolific producer, he has worked with artists including Camila Cabello ("Havana ...

Kid Harpoon Thomas Edward Percy Hull (born 20 April 1982), known professionally as Kid Harpoon, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Career Already a fixture at local venues in his hometown of Chatham, Kid Harpoon first emerge ...

and Scott Harris, among others. The album was preceded by '' Shawn Mendes: In Wonder'', a 2020

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documentary capturing Mendes' off-stage life. Upon release, ''Wonder'' received generally favourable reviews from music critics, most of whom noted Mendes' vocal improvements, but were polarized over the album's production and songwriting, deeming them predictable and formulaic. ''Wonder'' debuted at number one in Canada and the United States. Three singles supported the album: "

Wonder Wonder most commonly refers to: * Wonder (emotion), an emotion comparable to surprise that people feel when perceiving something rare or unexpected Wonder may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * The Wonders, a fictional band ...

", "

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

" with

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

, and "Call My Friends", with the former two reaching the top 20 of the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album's lead single, "Wonder," peaked at number 18 on the Hot 100, and reached the top ten in several other countries. The second single, "Monster," reached number eight on the US Hot 100 and topped the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

. To promote the album, Mendes embarked on the Wonder World Tour, which commenced in June 2022 in Portland and was set to conclude in August 2023 in Dublin, before Mendes prematurely ended the tour in July 2022 due to mental health issues.

Background and promotion

In August 2020, Shawn Mendes got the word "wonder" tattooed on his right arm, which would later turn out to be the title of the album and its lead single. On September 30, 2020, the singer took to his social media to tease towards the project with the caption "WHAT IS #WONDER". Hours later, he went on to announce the title and release dates of both lead single and album, as well as release the interlude "Intro", the first track on the album. The album pre-orders were released to streaming services on September 30. In a statement, Mendes said of ''Wonder'': "It really feels like a piece of me has been written down on paper and recorded into song. I tried to be as real and as honest as I've ever been. It's a world and a journey and a dream and an album I've been wanting to make for a really long time. I absolutely love it. Thank you for being by my side for so many years. I love you all so much." To promote the album, a feature-length documentary titled '' Shawn Mendes: In Wonder'' directed by

Grant Singer Grant Taylor Singer (born July 23, 1985) is an American music video and commercial director known for working with artists such as The Weeknd, Sky Ferreira, Lorde, Sam Smith, Ariel Pink and Skrillex. Filmography Films *''Mania'' (2016) *'' S ...

was released on

on November 23, 2020, chronicling the past few years of Mendes' life, including his rise to fame, his 2019 self-titled world tour and the making of ''Wonder''. Mendes executive produces the film, which was honored as a special selection at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. Mendes revealed the album's tracklist through a Spotify canvas that was updated daily starting November 2, 2020. On November 13, Mendes revealed the tracklist on social media.

Singles

" was released as the title track and lead single from the album on October 2, 2020. Teasers for both the song and accompanying music video were released alongside the announcement. "

", a collaboration with fellow Canadian singer

, was released as the second single on November 20. "Call My Friends" was released as the third single alongside the album release on December 4.

Critical reception

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, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 65 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" based on 9 reviews. ''

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'' writer Jon Dolan defined ''Wonder'' as a compelling mixture of "youthful passion" and "

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

agony", characterized its production as "grandiose" with backing choirs and dramatic drums, with sentimental lyrics inspired heavily by

Camila Cabello Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is a Cuban-born American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. While in ...

. ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'''s Craig Jenkins found the album predictable, but praised Mendes for improving his vocals. He described it as a "

headphone Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an au ...

album, full of intriguing tones, lush textures, and unexpected twists", with "short and sweet" songs that lack the energy of his 2016 hit singles " Treat You Better" and "

Mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...

". Quinn Moreland of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' felt the album was "naive—and vaguely terrifying" while opining "it’s nice to see his cup overflow so bountifully, but the near-constant awe quickly grows tiresome." He also noted that ''Wonder'' is Mendes' "most musically adventurous album" but that "every song is plagued by the same problem: Production that attempts to compensate for lyrical blandness by forcibly inserting drama." He ended his review by saying that Mendes "has yet to make a statement that truly sets him apart." Dubbing Mendes as the North American version of

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

, ''

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'' critic

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was favourable towards Mendes's vocal performance and the "important" teenage themes discussed on ''Wonder'', such as

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

and

toxic masculinity Toxic masculinity is a set of certain male behaviors associated with harm to society and men themselves. Traditional stereotypes of men as socially dominant, along with related traits such as misogyny and homophobia, can be considered "toxic" d ...

, but thought that it is deficit of personality, criticizing the "least appealing" production, and formulaic ballads with "ponderous-verse-into-epic-chorus" structure. Leah Greenblatt, writing for ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'', asserted that the album sees Mendes "still discovering himself in real time", feeling free, expressing sexual tension and reflecting on early fame, and picked "Call My Friends", "Dream" and "Song for No One" as the best tracks. In a less favourable review, Helen Brown of ''

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'' wrote that ''Wonder'' chronicles "the struggles of the lonely touring musician missing his girl", and complimented the album's vintage-inspired sound, but deemed the songs unoriginal. Malvika Padin, writing for Clash, noted that the album is "ambitious" and "stocked full of emotions," but also wrote that it didn't always succeed, at times "feeling too shallow for it to be as impactful as Mendes intended it to be," but called the album worth a listen.

Jon Caramanica Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, Caramanica received his ba ...

of ''

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'' complimented Mendes' "understanding fhow to inflate his voice from whimper to peal," but felt that "his lyrics meander and stop short of true sentiment, and his rhythmic deliveries feel less cohesive" and that the record was "much less polished" in comparison to his previous two album releases. Writing for ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'', Chris DeVille named ''Wonder'' Mendes' "best (or at least most interesting)" album while complimenting his growth as a songwriter, although he feels that at times the record "falls victim to the same overly broad fairytale love-story clichés."

Commercial performance

''Wonder'' debuted at number one on the

Canadian Album Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Monday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen SoundScan, and published every Tuesday by ''Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding i ...

for ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', earning the highest sales and digital song downloads and the second-highest on-demand streams for the week. It became Mendes' fourth Canadian number-one album. ''Wonder'' debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 89,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...

s (including 54,000 pure sales), becoming Mendes' fourth consecutive US number-one album. It made Mendes the youngest male artist and second-youngest artist after

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

to top the Billboard 200 with four regular studio albums. It also made him the fourth-youngest artist in history to log four number-one titles on the Billboard 200. The album's tracks earned a total of 46.92 million on-demand streams in its first week. In its second week, the album descended to number 25 on the ''Billboard'' 200 dated December 17, 2020, with 28,300 units sold. It sold 30,000 units in the week dated December 24, 2020, on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer * signifies an assistant producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. Musicians *

– vocals , piano , synthesizer , additional vocals , keyboards , guitar , background vocals , acoustic guitar * Nate Mercereau – guitar , horn , synthesizer , drums , bass , percussion ,

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, string arrangement , violin , background vocals , piano *

– synthesizer , drums , guitar , programming , bass , piano , additional vocals , string arrangement ,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

organ , background vocals * Edie Lehmann Boddicker – choir arrangement , background vocals * Clydene Jackson – background vocals * Jarrett Johnson – background vocals * Nayanna Holley – background vocals * Toni Scruggs – background vocals * Scott Harris – piano , programming , synthesizer , additional vocals , background vocals * Andrew Gertler – additional vocals * Connor Brashier – additional vocals , background vocals * Josiah Van Dien – additional vocals , background vocals * Ziggy Chareton – additional vocals * Porter Shields – choir arrangement , background vocals * Amber Nicole – background vocals * Milla Santana – background vocals * Yvette Rovira – background vocals *

Anderson Paak Brandon Paak Anderson (born February 8, 1986), better known by his stage name Anderson .Paak (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and drummer. He released his debut mixtape, ''O.B.E. Vol. 1,'' in 2012 and went on to rel ...

– drums , percussion *

Rob Moose Rob Moose (born 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer, conductor, and orchestrator. He primarily plays the violin, viola, and guitar. Early life and education Moose was born in 1982. He was raised in Windsor, Connect ...

– strings * John Ryan – guitar , programming , synthesizer * Shaina Evoniuk – string arrangement , strings , viola , violin * Leroy Horns – saxophone * Alyssa Rowatt – background vocals * Kaushlesh "Garry" Purohit – background vocals * Zubin Thakkar – background vocals , guitar , programming , string arrangement *

Ricky Reed Eric Burton Frederic (born July 23, 1982), known professionally as Ricky Reed, is an American artist, music producer, singer, songwriter, and founder of Nice Life Recording Company. From 2005 to 2014, Reed was also known as Wallpaper. Early w ...

– drum programming *

Aaron Sterling Aaron Sterling (born July 9, 1980) is an American drummer, producer, engineer, and session musician who lives in Los Angeles. The son of professional musicians, Sterling grew up in Texas and Nashville, Tennessee, before moving to L.A. in 2000. K ...

– drums * Morgan Paros – string arrangement, strings * Ben Darwish – piano * Dave Haskett – bass * Mike Sleath – drums * Eddy Ruyter – keyboards , Mellotron * Surf Mesa – remixer * Jesse McGinty – horn * Michael Cordone – horn * Patrick Riley – strings , string arrangement Technical * George Seara – mixer ,

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

, engineer *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed She ...

– mixer *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

– mixer * Andrew Thornton – mixer * Zubin Thakkar – mixer , recording engineer *

Randy Merrill Randy Merrill is an American mastering engineer who has worked with international artists including DAY6, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Harry Styles, One Direction, Adele, Imagine Dragons, Beck, Liam Gallagher, Jonas Brothers, Muse, Cage the ...

–

mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

* Idania Valencia – mastering engineer * Jeremy Hatcher – recording engineer , engineer * Scott Harris – recording engineer *

– recording engineer * Josh Gudwin – recording engineer, vocal producer * Shawn Mendes – recording engineer * Michael Flaherty – recording engineer * Tom Wood – recording engineer * Nate Mercereau – recording engineer * Pete Min – recording engineer * Michael Lehman Boddicker –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Brandon Leger – engineer * Tyler Murphy – engineer * Eddy Ruyter – engineer * Robin Florent – mix engineer * Chris "TEK" O'Ryan – vocal engineer * Mike Gnocato – assistant mixer * Matt Wolach – assistant mixer * Chris Galland – assistant mixer * Jeremie Inhaber – assistant mixer * Kaushlesh "Garry" Purohit – assistant recording engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2020 albums Albums produced by Frank Dukes Albums produced by Ricky Reed Island Records albums Shawn Mendes albums