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REVIEW #1: 55/100

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‘Till Sunrise’ accompanies the film of the same name starring Shawn Mendes, who shoulder-taps a few of his musical friends to help him out on this soundtrack album.

The album opens with ‘This Town’ which sees Shawn (or I guess Ford) tackling the feeling of outgrowing the community around him – one who’s support of him seemed to be self-serving in nature, or at least that’s how it seems through Shawn’s eyes. There’s something there – it’s an intriguing concept but one that we’re kind of left to ponder. Mendes is vague in his storytelling and we need to lean on the film for more context. I assume the song is referring to the character of Ford being under state care or passed around homes by social workers, the social workers who have failed to check up on him to see how he’s doing now. He feels abandoned by the state, by those meant to care for him and he’s not happy about it. I wish the song went a little deeper; it’s an interesting concept from the perspective of Mendes’ character but perhaps because it was not the lived experience of Mendes himself, he struggles to inject enough in to this song to really take it that next level. It’s all just a touch too vague and the repetition of verses, when there’s already not a lot of lyrics to get in to, doesn’t help – it kind of just hovers on the same note. The instrumental is layered and builds nicely, however it does feel a little disjointed with the lyrics.

Next up is 'Rapture' that again, I needed to refer to back to the film for some context, which makes sense for a soundtrack that accompanies another piece of work. This song seems as though it’s about Ford’s relationship with the character Catherine, who took over the care of Ford after he was taken from his mother, who was deemed unfit to look after him. This track suffers from the same hang-ups as the first in the sense that it’s all a little vague and confusing. “Her story is tragedy/her hate is a dagger/her voice is a storm/her name is rapture” – this chorus (hook?) reads like a confusing slam poem that tries to sound more impactful than it really is. “Her name is rapture” is perhaps the most confusing as I’m unsure if ‘rapture’ is used in the sense of joy and enthusiasm or the Biblical meaning, both of which make about as much sense as the other in the context of this song. Paired with the meandering instrumental, this one comes across as more the misguided ramblings of teenage angst as opposed to a more layered look in to the relationship between these two characters.

Father John Misty comes in as the first guest artist on this album with his track ‘Past Life’. Immediately Misty offers a much more introspective reflection from what we can assume is the perspective of Ford, or at least something we can project on to his character. Upon hearing this song and the next guest feature that follows, it becomes apparent that Mendes has taken a different approach to writing these songs than his counterparts. Misty questions life, relationships and experiences in a way that, when interpreted through the lens of Ford, give him a depth that extends beyond a brooding boy who feels like he’s been let down by everybody but himself. ‘Past Life’ feels like Ford unpacking the part he played in everything that has happened to him which is a refreshing take compared to the much more deflective, finger-pointing attitude of Mendes’ Ford (seen in the film and in some of the other songs on this album).

‘Lose You’ is Ford’s love letter to Nick it would seem and it’s another track written and performed by Mendes. Again, it’s vague in its lyrics and doesn’t feel like a fully developed concept – maybe because it seems mostly reinterpreted from the song the instrumental was pulled from. So yeah, there’s that.

Kevin Abstract’s ‘Mango’ is another highlight on the album. Much like FJM’s ‘Past Life’ there’s a much more nuanced, introspective nature to the song and where it really excels is in its storytelling. Vivid imagery is packed in to every line that really allows you to sink yourself in the story and the character that’s been explored here. Pair that with a fresh vulnerability that’s lost in the Mendes tracks before it and we get a beautiful song that demands multiple listens.

Next is another guest, Kelly Clarkson. Her track ‘Fade Away (Please Get Better)’ also seems to draw its inspiration from the troubled relationship between Ford and Catherine. There’re some glimpses of compassion and contemplation, but it’s brought down a bit by feeling mostly one note throughout the song. There’s this push and pull kind of happening – I want to help you, but I need to help myself, am I doing the right thing? – but it’s a push and pull that happens line after line until you start to feel like you’re just in a washing machine of guilt. It’s not the worst offender on the album by far, but it gets a bit lost in the shuffle.

Halsey’s ‘Prom Song’ is up next and immediately this feels unique to the rest of the album. There’s something intriguing about the lyrics, but I don’t know how much of that is the content itself or more the fight to try and figure out what is going on here. Maybe I’m not picking up on something or there’s context I missed, but it’s hard to really nail down what ‘Prom Song’ is saying. There’s something about what it feels like to grow up to be something you didn’t think you would be and learning lessons along the way, but it flies a little too high and I don’t think it quite lands. And turning to the film more clues doesn’t help as it seems to exist separate to the storyline of the film? Perhaps it’s more an interpretation of the themes in the film, explored in a different context – still left a bit confused by this one.

That wraps up the guest features and we’re left with two more Shawn Mendes songs to close out the album and the good news is, they’re possibly the best two Mendes tracks on Till Sunrise. First up is ‘Infinity’ which off the first line alone seems to connect to a specific scene in the film which sees Ford and friends hanging out on a rooftop. This song does a bit more of what a soundtrack should do and that’s take something we visually see on screen and expand upon it. The lyrics feel like a step up compared to the previous Shawn-penned track on the album, even if the upbeat hopefulness ventures in to Disney levels of relentless positivity at times. The final song on the album, the title track, tells a story – well, it pretty much retells the story of the film in much more condensed, smoothed-over package. It’s the kind of song you expect from a big budget movie soundtrack, like this is the song that plays over and over in trailers and TV spots for weeks. It does suffer from similar crutches as other Mendes songs in that it doesn’t go super deep on the subject matter and it’s egregiously self-congratulating but it serves as a cute little wrap up to this album.

Overall, Till Sunrise is much like its cinematic counterpart in that it fall short of its real potential by spending too much time with its main character when it’s the B-players who have more to offer. Mendes gets upstaged on his own project thanks to the talented features who are willing to experiment and dig deeper with what they’re given and although he shows signs of keeping up towards the end, it’s too little too late before the albums done. It serves its purpose of accompanying the film and adding in a few extra layers here and there, but you can’t help but feel this was a missed opportunity to pick up some of the slack where the movie failed to give us something really satisfying.