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The Only Thing that Makes Sense For Shawn Mendes is You

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Columbia Chicago chapter.

Our beloved Canadian is back with some brand new music to help kick start the summer jams!

Courtesy of iHeartRadio

Shawn dropped a surprise new single this Friday labeled, “If I Can’t Have You”. The song talks about this person that Shawn cares about so much, that there’s nothing he wants to do without them. He talks about how, “everything means nothing if I can’t have you.” It’s a very classic kind of livelong with a summer fun beat to blast in your car as you’re driving down Lake Shore Drive with your friends or even that someone special.

The music video for “If I Can’t Have You” came out at the same time as the song to provide us with some great visuals to go along with the new radio jam. The video is in all black and white, giving off a bit of that old school vibe and has a very nice flow through it, so the only thing you have to focus on is the handsome Shawn and his song. The visuals in this video are really cool and is a nice contrast between the past couple of videos we’ve seen for this last album. It also compliments his tour videos very nicely.

Courtesy of YouTube

Shawn was also on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend where he debuted the brand new hit. The song was received very well and he did a fantastic job performing it live. With the all black look (which was a great choice – especially the silk button-down), purple lights and acoustic guitar he was playing, it gave me all the feels. And can we just take a second to appreciate that high note that he hit LIVE?! Shawn is a fantastic performer and I expected nothing less from him. It was fantastic.

He then went on to perform the first single off of his last album, “In My Blood” with an orchestra behind him to start out the song and then go into the iconic electric guitar riffs that we know from the song. He even was part of a skit during the show playing one of Adam Sandler’s relatives at the Sandler Reunion. I just want to point out that during the skit Shawn rocked a fake buzzcut and it made me appreciate his luscious locks that much more.

With this new song now on being streamed, there’s only one question left: what’s next? While Shawn is currently still touring the US (he’ll be in Chicago at the end of June) but that doesn’t mean that the songwriter for him stops. “If I Can’t Have You” might just be the signal that his fourth album is going to be coming to us soon. If that’s the case, then bring on the new music, Shawn! We just can’t wait.

Melanie Medrano

Columbia Chicago '21

A music-enthused entertainment journalist who wants to share her voice with the world - one article at a time.