Shawn Mendes On Taylor Swift, New Album ‘Illuminate’


While Shawn Mendes has learned a thing or two from John Mayer, the “Stitches” singer revealed that Taylor Swift has also been such a huge influence on him. When she invited him to open her 1989 World Tour, the Vine star could not be anymore thrilled. The “Treat You Better” singer also recently opened up about his new album, Illuminate, set for release on Sept. 23.

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Shawn Mendes shared that he got more impressed with Taylor Swift after seeing her work ethic up close. Mendes said that he was inspired with how hardworking the pop star is both on and off stage. He recalled how Swift tirelessly met press and fans in between tours, something that he definitely wanted to emulate.

“She was just doing interviews and meet and greets. It seemed like she never stopped… It was cool to see that somebody at that level of fame and success was still working so hard to be there. It showed me that there’s no amount of success that allows you not to work hard, which is a really cool thing to learn at a young age,” he shared.

Mendes is set to preview songs off his sophomore album Illuminate in his upcoming concert. He recently released the video for his new single, “Treat You Better,” which addresses domestic abuse. The controversial video even included a domestic violence hotline number at the end of the clip.

Although Shawn Mendes was ecstatic about the phenomenal response to “Treat You Better” — the song now has over 27 million views on YouTube — he did not want domestic violence to be the sole focus of the song. He told People that it was all about treating each other better.

“Personally, I’ve seen that happen wrong in a lot of different ways, emotionally and physically. I just wanted to spread the message that it shouldn’t be that way,” he said.

Shawn admitted that they were first hesitant to produce such a controversial video for “Treat You Better,” but decided that it was necessary if they wanted to get their message across. In the end, the risk was worth it. He said that they were more than happy with the response they received from fans.

“I love how the fans are reacting to it – especially the domestic violence hotline [number] at the end of it. I think our goal of spreading the message worked really well.”

Following the success of his 2015 debut, his sophomore album Illuminate is set for release on Sept. 23. Shawn Mendes shared that he is incredibly proud of his new album, not even thinking how it would fare with Handwritten, which debut at No.1 on Billboard 200 chart.

Even if no one ended up liking his new music, Shawn told The Fader that it would not change the way he felt about the album. He shared that he has been hands on with the entire process and felt good with everything they have accomplished.

“I’m way more confident with this album, it’s not even funny. I mean, I just feel so good about it. If it sold no records, I’d still be so much more confident. I’m so passionate about the music I created that, if it sold 10 copies the first day, I’d still be happy. You put a lot of effort into it — your heart, your soul. Everything goes into that album that you’ve been working on for the past year. So no matter what, it’s a big thing.”

[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]

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