Shawn Mendes talks struggles in life and finding inspiration in moment of ‘deep frustration’

Shawn Mendes got candid about how he found his creativity amid his dilemmas relating to life and relationships following his mental health struggles last year.

In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, the singer talked about his recently-released surprise song, What the Hell Are We Dying For?, via Billboard.

He shared that he had ‘been really struggling’ last year in the studio to “find my voice and to find myself musically.” He explained that he was looking for ‘courage just to be in the room with writers or step into the booth and sing.’

He divulged that he was “feeling a lot of things about relationships, about my career, about the environment” whilst he was in upstate New York. And in a ‘moment of just deep frustration’ in the studio he found ‘inspiration.’

Mendes shared that his impromptu release had been written in under 24 hours, as it came on the heels of smoke in the New York skyline due to Canadian wildfires. “I think I had this feeling of urgency, this feeling of honestly excitement, this feeling of connection — this feeling of this is me right now, this is how I feel right now.”

Despite his new-found inspiration, Mendes added that he is “still am in a very confused place,” but his deep love for music, some people in his life and the planet are three things gave him energy. He described it as ‘something worth fighting for and worth dying for.’

The song also marks the singer’s return to music after he cancelled a planned 2022 North American/European tour to focus on his mental health.

“I think a little bit, just all over the place. I feel aware of how people are receiving the song. I feel aware of the fact that I did it on a whim and I’m proud of it. But most of all, honestly, if I’m being real, I’m just happy that I broke through that horrible wall of writer’s block and I’m creating again. I’m just happy about that. And I’m just going to keep going, keep making some songs because I really think that there’s something in here.

He continued, “I think I am approaching 25 still feeling quite confused about a lot of things in my life. And I think that was expressing that feeling of frustration about what is happening, this feeling of swinging the pendulum back and forth.”