Shawn Mendes talks about his new tour, making songs about Camila Cabello breakup and his movie role as a singing crocodile

Editor's Note: A day after this story was initially published July 7, Mendes announced that he would be postponing his tour for three weeks, saying that the toll of touring again had led him to a "breaking point." That includes a Fiserv Forum originally schedule for July 12 that has yet to be rescheduled.

One of the most cathartic moments I've experienced at a concert in the past five years was when Shawn Mendes played "In My Blood" at Summerfest in Milwaukee in 2018.

It was the first show that Mendes had played in America after releasing his Billboard 200 chart-topping self-titled album that spring. And the album's opener, "In My Blood," was a songwriting breakthrough, with Mendes, at that point mostly known for his love songs, singing about "the walls caving in," about feeling "overwhelmed and insecure" — and being determined to not give up.

At Summerfest, thousands of fans sang that song with him, sharing their anxieties, and together, finding strength.

The weight of the world has gotten so much heavier these past four years. But Mendes, on his first arena tour since COVID-19, including a Milwaukee stop, hopes his music will provide even greater rejuvenation.

"There's no way to avoid the kind of suffering that's happened over the last couple of years," Mendes responded to a Journal Sentinel question as part of a conference call with reporters. "The beautiful thing about music is … sometimes it seems to be a direct line to the heart."

"I'm curious if people are itching to feel something more cathartic," Mendes continued. "I want to feel more of that connection. That connected moment of kind of relating over the pain — I think that's a really good feeling."

Mendes anxious about live performing

Mendes admits he's feeling some anxiety himself these days about returning to performing after being so used to being home with family and friends.

"But, generally, I feel grateful that I'm able to come out there and be touring again," he said.

"Playing live is something that's been a kind of my life force for me since I was 15," said the 23-year-old Mendes, who said the Rave's Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee was "one of the first venues I remember playing and loving." (He first played a packed Ballroom in 2014, just a week after releasing his debut EP; he opened for Austin Mahone.)

"I'm excited to feel that energy again," Mendes continued. "My job is to really just kind of give everything I have. … I really just want people to feel a sense of inspiration when they leave the venue. … I want people (at my shows) to feel really connected to being human."

The anthemic songs on Mendes' fourth album "Wonder" were designed "to kind of blow people away in a live setting," Mendes said. But when the album was released in December 2020, touring had yet to resume.

The silver lining of the extended pause from the pandemic is that Mendes' creative team "has never had this much time in the past to create a show. … The production is the most beautiful that it's been."

"Rehearsing the songs and playing them again, it has sparked an entire new love for the album," Mendes said. "I was in my first kind of really serious relationship at the time, so I was experiencing what it was like to be in love for the first time and writing about that. My process was just trying to be as honest as possible."

"I felt an immense pressure to have a successful album," he continued. "The honest truth is that I've only had success when I've been focusing on making music that feels inspiring and moving to me. I've never had success when I've focused on how to make something industry successful. There are moments throughout my career where I recognized when I do it for the wrong reasons, and it doesn't work. When I do it for the right reasons, it seems to work out every time."

'Wonder' was Mendes' fourth straight No. 1 album

It worked out for "Wonder," becoming Mendes' fourth consecutive album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making him the youngest male artist ever to accomplish that feat.

The relationship that inspired the album, with fellow pop star Camila Cabello, ended in November 2021, but the stars suggested in Instagram posts that "our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever. … We started our relationship as best friends and will continue to be best friends."

Mendes hasn't shied away from addressing the breakup through his music. It was an inspiration for his latest single "When You're Gone." 

"You never know how good you have it/Until you're staring at a picture of the only girl that matters," the song begins. "I know what we're supposed to do/It's hard for me to let go of you."

"It felt like a kind of good description of how I was feeling a month after my relationship ended," Mendes said. "My music is always going to be a representation of where I am. … It's a healing process for me to write about how I feel and put it into music. It's always been something that's really helped me grow as a person."

Before "The Wonder Tour" wraps up its North American leg in late October, fans will get to see Mendes in movie theaters — or really, hear him, as the voice of a singing crocodile in the movie "Lyle, Lyle Crocodile."

Out Oct. 7, the film, based on Bernard Waber's 1965 children's book, co-stars Javier Bardem and Constance Wu, with new songs written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the creative musical team behind "The Greatest Showman" and "Dear Evan Hansen."

"Seeing my voice kind of come through the face of a CGI crocodile was bizarre," Mendes said. "I think it's going to be something I'm so proud of, especially as I get older. When I first heard the idea, I knew this was something that will affect kids in a great way."

If you go

Who: Shawn Mendes with Dermot Kennedy

When: TBD. Originally scheduled for July 12, a new date has yet to be announced.

Where: Fiserv Forum, 1111 N. Phillips Ave.

How much?: $19.50 to $84.50 at the box office and fiservforum.com.

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Shawn Mendes talks new tour, making songs about Camila Cabello breakup