Shawn Mendes and Khalid write track for the younger generation
Is it not exciting when two young talents who happen to be two of the biggest pop stars of the moment decide to team up!? Shawn Mendes wrote and recorded a song with Khalid for his upcoming self titled album, to be released on the 25th of May. Mendes returned earlier this year with the double single release ‘In My Blood’ and ‘Lost In Japan’, which showed his artistic growth. In interviews, Mendes described duet ‘Youth’ as the most important tune on his new album and he released it today!

Khalid seems to be everywhere at the moment. He dropped the gorgeous duet ‘Lovely’ with Billie Eilish only two weeks ago and now appears on Shawn’s latest! The boys wrote ‘Youth’ after the terrorist attack at London Bridge in 2017 happened. Shawn explained in interviews how the song should move us, and the younger generations in particular, to not let go of our youth, because of the scary things that are happening in the world around us. “You can’t take my youth away, this soul of mine will never break”, they confidently state in a song that has its beautiful sentiment as its strongest asset. The lyrics might not be the most original or poetic, but the message is admirable.

Message aside, ‘Youth’ actually is an addictive little pop song! The production by Joel Little (who produced Lorde’s impressive debut) is beautifully layered yet understated. Vocally, both Shawn and Khalid shine and their vocals sound a lot better together then I thought they would. ‘Youth’ is catchy, well produced, relevant and extremely radiofriendly. A guaranteed hit!