Musically yours...

Shawn Mendes got his first guitar at the age of 14, a major-label record deal at 15 and his first No. 1 album — last year’s ‘Handwritten’ — at 16, thanks largely to the democratising power of the internet. But since taking off on Vine, the looping micro-video app, with his #6secondcover versions of others’ pop hits, this Canadian singer has done something more impressive: He’s stuck around with songs of his own.

Instead of banking on a gimmick or a single piece of shareable content to carry the load of a potential career — think of Psy’s Gangnam Style — Mendes, who has teen idol looks and thus far an unblemished reputation, diligently built a young fan base online and through live shows (and meet-and-greets). That loyal base has supported five platinum-selling hits, including two Billboard Top 10s (Stitches and Treat You Better), along with arena-size world tours, both as a headliner and as an opener for Taylor Swift.

“There had never been anyone that emerged from Vine as a recording artist,” said David Massey, the president and chief executive of Island Records, Mendes’s label, adding that this singer’s tendency to go viral was not in itself a reason to sign him.

No gimmicks
Yet, not long after ‘Handwritten’ topped the charts, Mendes was able to all but abandon Vine (and cover songs), seamlessly kicking into a new gear — that of the established pop star. He recently released ‘Illuminate’, his second LP, which has benefited from more traditional channels of promotion: early radio singles, music videos and television commercials. His internet-curio days are over.

Adding to the unlikeliness of Mendes’s ascent is that he managed to gain a real industry foothold by being not on trend but decidedly off, relying on an acoustic guitar in place of electronic dance beats; a mostly anonymous team of collaborators, instead of brand-name producers; and an aw-shucks persona, without any trace of bad boy. His soft, sometimes soulful pop-rock plays primarily to tweens and teenagers, but has also found traction on adult contemporary radio stations, giving Mendes both the screaming-superfan and dentists’ office demographics.

‘Illuminate’ represents the careful evolution of his digestible sound and subject matter, with much of the organic instrumentation and good-guy earnestness of ‘Handwritten’ intact. However, Mendes, now 18, stressed the necessity of following up his debut promptly because of the relentlessness of adolescence.

“From 15 to 18, everybody is a different person,” he said in a voice not quite done changing. “Every six months, I have a whole new outlook on life. There’s just so much happening, I would have exploded if I had to wait another year to show the world what I’m capable of.”

Unlike ‘Handwritten’, ‘Illuminate’, which Mendes called a mix between Ed Sheeran and the John Mayer album ‘Continuum’, credits him as a songwriter on every track.

Though many artistes bristle at direct musical comparisons, Mendes is exceedingly open about his influences; his entire sonic development is documented in online videos, after all. (Sheeran and Mayer also serve as his big-brother figures in the industry, Mendes said.)

He is also forthcoming about the realities of outgrowing child stardom. While Mendes insisted that his chivalrous character in song is true to life, he acknowledged that like Miley and Justin, some form of a fall could be expected.

Pushing boundaries
Confident but clearly tender, Mendes has the familiar charm of a popular kid who has the faculties not to unsettle parents with his slickness. On ‘Illuminate’, he pushes boundaries but always with respect; women tend to have the power in Mendes’s songs, though sometimes they are led astray by less honourable men.

At the Garden, Mendes admitted to some anxiety about debuting songs with more adult themes, like the sultry Bad Reputation, about a girl who’s shamed for her sexuality. “They don’t know what you’ve been through,” he sings. “Trust me I could be the one to treat you like a lady.”

Lights On is more straightforward, with Mendes pre-emptively identifying as a gentleman before promising to “love you with the lights on/keep you up all night long.” The song is barely PG-13, but Mendes said he worried he could “surpass where my fans think I am” in life (though the path to maturity is traditionally less fraught for male pop stars).

“I’m releasing a song about sex at 18, which is appropriate,” he explained. “I wouldn’t have done it if I were 16 or 17. I’ll release a song about drinking at 21, you know what I mean?”