Wonder

This article is about the album. For its track title, see Wonder (song).

“	It really feels like a piece of me has been written down on paper and recorded into a 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.	”
–Mendes talking about Wonder

WonderStudio album by Shawn Mendes
General information
Release Date	December 4, 2020 (Standard edition) December 7, 2020 (Deluxe edition)
Recorded	2019 - 2020
Genre	Pop
Length	39:58 (Standard edition) 46:48 (Holiday edition) 71:45 (Deluxe edition)
Producer(s)	Shawn Mendes, Thomas Hull, Nate Mercereau, Adam Feeney, John Ryan, Ricky Reed
Label
Studio albums chronology
Previous	Shawn Mendes
Current	Wonder
Next	Shawn
Singles
1. "Wonder" Released: October 2, 2020 2. "Monster" Released: November 20, 2020

Wonder (originally titled Wonderland) is Shawn Mendes's fourth studio album. It was released on December 4, 2020, through Island Records. It includes a collaboration with fellow Canadian singer Justin Bieber.

The deluxe edition was released on December 7, 2020, which includes 10 bonus tracks.

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. He also revealed the album's cover art. The album pre-orders were released on streaming services on September 30.

To promote the album, a feature-length documentary titled In Wonder directed by Grant Singer was released on Netflix 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

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

• "Monster" a collaboration with Justin Bieber, was released on November 20 as the album's second single.

• "Intro" the first track on the album, which also serves as the interlude, was released as a promotional single on September 30, following the announcement of both the album and lead single release dates.

• "Call My Friends" was released as the second promotional single alongside the album release on December 4.

Wonder

Monster

Intro

Call My Friends

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	5.9/10
Metacritic	65/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Clash	7/10
Entertainment Weekly	B+
The Guardian
The Independent
Pitchfork	5.0/10
Rolling Stone

At Metacritic, 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.

Rolling Stone writer Jon Dolan defined Wonder as a compelling mixture of "youthful passion" and "coming-of-age agony", characterized its production as "grandiose" with backing choirs and dramatic drums, with sentimental lyrics inspired heavily by Camila Cabello. Vulture's Craig Jenkins found the album predictable, but praised Mendes for improving his vocals. He described it as a "headphone 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". Quinn Moreland of Pitchfork 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, The Guardian critic Alexis Petridis was favorable towards Mendes's vocal performance and the "important" teenage themes discussed on Wonder, such as anxiety and toxic masculinity, but thought that it is a deficit of personality, criticizing the "least appealing" production, and formulaic ballads with "ponderous-verse-into-epic-chorus" structure. Leah Greenblatt, writing for Entertainment Weekly, 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 favorable review, Helen Brown of The Independent 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 of The New York Times complimented Mendes' "understanding [of] how 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, 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 for Billboard, 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 units (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 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, "Wonder" descended to 25 on the Billboard 200 dated December 17, due in part, to the influx of holiday albums, with 28,300 units sold. It sold 30,000 units in the week ending 24 December 2020 on the Billboard 200.

Tracklist

Standard edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Shawn Mendes, Scott Harris, Frank Dukes, Tobias Jesso Jr.	Mendes, Harris, Kid Harpoon, Nate Mercereau	1:02
2.	"Wonder"	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau	2:52
3.	"Higher"	Mendes, Harris	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau, Sly	2:40
4.	"24 Hours"	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau	2:30
5.	"Teach Me How To Love"	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau	3:22
6.	"Call My Friends"	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, John Ryan, Mercereau	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Ryan, Mercereau	2:51
7.	"Dream"	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau	3:34
8.	"Song For No One"	Mendes, Harris, Dukes, Mercereau	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Dukes, Mercereau	3:11
9.	"Monster" (with Justin Bieber)	Mendes, Justin Bieber, Feeney, Ashton Simmonds, Mustafa Ahmed	Feeney, Matthew Tavares, Kaan Gunesberk	2:58
10.	"305"	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau	Mendes, Harris, Harpoon, Mercereau	3:09
11.	"Always Been You"	Mendes, Harris, Jesso Jr, Zubin Thakkar	Mendes, Harris, Hull, Mercereau	2:47
12.	"Piece Of You"	Mendes, Harris, Ryan, Ricky Reed	Mendes, Harris, Hull, Mercereau, Reed	2:55
13.	"Look Up At The Stars"	Mendes, Harris, Hull	Mendes, Harris, Hull, Mercereau	3:31
14.	"Can't Imagine"	Mendes	Mendes, Harris, Hull, Mercereau	2:29
Total length:				39:58

Holiday deluxe
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"The Christmas Song" (with Camila Cabello)	Robert Wells, Mel Tormé	Mercereau, Ben Darwish	3:16
16.	"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (BBC Live Version)	Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio		3:24
Total length:				46:48

Deluxe edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"Wonder" (Acoustic)	Mendes, Harris, Hull, Mercereau	Mercereau, Thakkar	2:53
18.	"Wonder" (Surf Mesa Remix)	Mendes, Harris, Hull, Mercereau	Mendes, Harris, Hull, Mercereau	3:18
19.	"Intro" (Live From The Wonder Residencies)	Mendes, Harris, Jesso Jr., Feeney	Thakkar	3:16
20.	"Wonder" (Live From The Wonder Residencies)	Mendes, Harris, Hull, Mercereau	Thakkar	2:54
21.	"Dream" (Live From The Wonder Residencies)	Mendes, Harris, Hull, Mercereau	Thakkar	3:41
22.	"Song For No One" (Live From The Wonder Residencies)	Mendes, Harris, Mercereau, Feeney	Thakkar	3:16
23.	"Always Been You" (Live From The Wonder Residencies)	Mendes, Harris, Jesso Jr., Thakkar	Thakkar	3:32
24.	"Look Up At The Stars" (Live From The Wonder Residencies)	Mendes, Harris, Hull	Thakkar	4:16
Total length:				71:45

Videos

• The Making of Wonder
• Interviews
• The Wonder Residency

The Making Of Wonder - “Teach Me How To Love” - Out Dec 4th

The Making Of Wonder - “Call My Friends” - Out Dec 4th

The Making of Wonder - "Higher" - Out Now

Shawn Mendes - The Wonder Interview with Zane Lowe (Apple Music 2020)

Shawn Mendes Gushes About Quarantining with Camila Cabello

Shawn Mendes talks 'Wonder' and life with Camila Cabello Radio Disney

Shawn Mendes Breaks Down His New Album “Wonder” + Relationship w Camila, Paparazzi & His Hair

Intro & Wonder (Live On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon The Wonder Residency Pt I 2020)

Wonder (BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge The Wonder Residency Pt II 2020)

Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge The Wonder Residency Pt II 2020)

Shawn Mendes - Look Up At The Stars (Live From The Wonder Residencies)

Shawn Mendes - Wonder (Live From The Wonder Residencies)

Shawn Mendes - Song For No One (Live From The Wonder Residencies)

Shawn Mendes - Always Been You (Live From The Wonder Residencies)

Shawn Mendes - Dream (Live From The Wonder Residencies)

Shawn Mendes - Intro (Live From The Wonder Residencies)

Trivia

• "Piece Of You" wasn't meant to be on the album.
• The first song that Mendes wrote for the album was "Song For No One".
• This is Mendes's first studio album to have a title track as an album name.
• "305" almost didn't make it onto the album.

Gallery

Wonder Tracklist

Wonder (Target Exclusive, CD)

Wonder (Target Exclusive, Vinyl)

Shawn Mendes - Wonder Limited LP

Shawn Mendes - Wonder LP

• Photoshoot
• Booklet

References

Navigation