Shawn Mendes says his new album would shock the Shawn Mendes of 2017

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Brian ZiffThe songs on Shawn Mendes’ new self-titled album, due out on Friday, reveal a new honesty and maturity that even he didn’t think he was capable of. In fact, the 19-year-old star says if you had told him last year that he would make an album like this, he wouldn’t have believed you.

Asked by Entertainment Weekly, “How would Shawn of four years ago react to the maturity of this album?” he replies. “He wouldn’t have believed it. No way. Shawn last year wouldn’t believe it.  I mean that with all of my heart.”

He adds, “You never discover you can say a certain thing again; you just do. These songs are stamps of moments when I discovered what I was capable of.”

“Every album is going to become more honest and truthful, but I really wanted to capture this,” Shawn explains. “I don’t know how to describe it, but there’s something about where I am right now in my life, being 19…I feel like I’m going through a huge transition and everything is just crazy and exciting.”

The album’s first single, “In My Blood,” which is about Shawn’s struggles with anxiety, is a good example of his new openness.

“The biggest thing I learned making this album,” he explains, “is that if I am not writing 100 percent the truth, I’m cheating myself, and the music just isn’t going to be as good.”

Next year, Shawn launches a world tour in support of the album, and he says his new honesty applies to his concerts, too.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect show,” he tells EW. “It makes me so excited to go on tour because I know that it can’t be perfect. That’s not what life is.”

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