Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber unleashed their highly-anticipated new single “Monster” on Friday (Nov. 20).
The new song was written a long time ago and Mendes says the track is about “how society wants to put celebrities up on a pedestal, but as much as they want to do that, they want to celebrate the fall.”
He continued: “It was a time when I was really afraid of my industry and afraid of my craft and afraid of everything. I didn’t have control. Everyone else had control over me. I think it just ended up becoming a metaphor for a bigger thing; that we all put pressure on each other as humans to be great, to be perfect.”
“So, Justin and I haven’t been close for a long time. When I was nine, Justin was my Michael Jackson. He was everything,” Mendes said about he and Bieber’s relationship in an interview with VMan. “He was what everyone talked about, the singer who everyone wanted to sing and dance like. He completely inspired me to start singing.”
You can hear the new song “Monster” below.
“Monster” appears on Mendes’ forthcoming 14-track album, Wonder, which is slated for release on December 4.
Mendes said that the new album “feels like a piece of me has been written down on paper and recorded into song. I tried to be as real and as honest as I’ve ever been.”
Additionally, Shawn Mendes and longtime manager Andrew Gertler partnered with Netflix to release “IN WONDER” globally on November 23. The debut feature length documentary, a TIFF special event selection, from acclaimed music video director Grant Singer (The Weeknd, Lorde, Sam Smith), is a portrait of Mendes’ life, chronicling the past few years of his rise and journey. Executive produced by Andrew Gertler, Shawn Mendes, & Ben Winston; produced by Saul Germaine, p.g.a and James Haygood.
