Shawn Mendes Shares Rare Singing Video Amid Performance Hiatus

Shawn Mendes is opening up about what he's been up to, musically while taking a break from the spotlight over the past year. On Tuesday, January 2nd, the singer shared a rare video of himself singing along to a harmonium. He also shared a lengthy post opening up about how this particular way of making music helped him with "extreme anxiety" and "fear."

"Over the last year i spent a lot of time singing like this.. I found that in moments of extreme anxiety or fear if i sat down with my harmonium and allowed myself with full trust to sing whatever came out it would often ease the pain," he wrote.

Mendes went on to give some insight behind his 2022 decision to cancel his tour and step away from the spotlight. "It felt so difficult at first to let myself sing without needing perfection but after a while i actually started to fall in love with the dance between the “right” and the “wrong” notes … i realized there were only moments of bliss and euphoria from the “right” notes BECAUSE of the “wrong” notes. The only reason i can sing in key is because i’ve learned to listen," he philosophized.

The singer concluded his note with more reflection. "The biggest lesson for me this year has been to accept and welcome the lows of life," he wrote," ... not to constantly need to change or fix something in order to feel high again, because i know if i really slow down and listen when i’m low there’s always something to hear."