Let Shawn Mendes be the first to leverage New York's terrible air quality for music
Where some saw a grave indication of climate change in the sepia smoke that's been hanging over New York City, Mendes saw single art
When a thick cloud of sepia-tinted smoke (originating from widespread Canadian wildfires) descended on New York City Wednesday afternoon, it was hard to ignore the aesthetic of it all. For every New Yorker wringing their hands at what the air quality says about the climate, about our government, and about the general uncertainty of being alive, there was someone furious they let Manhattan’s day dressed up as Arrakis pass by without getting off a fit, let alone a fit pic.
Maybe it’s because one of the only dreamy parts of living through unprecedented times is writing a living ballad for yourself, and documenting your own journey as a fulcrum of some greater plot; maybe people just like to flex these days; or, maybe, something real gets through occasionally. Whatever it is, Shawn Mendes clearly has a certain eye and ear for it, as a timely new single drawing heavy creative inspiration from the current environment in N.Y.C. reflects.
Mendes’ new track, “What The Hell Are We Dying For?” arrives with single art lifted right from the center of the weather event: a shot of the Manhattan skyline barely visible through a cloud of orange smoke. Beyond the art, the single itself blends themes of climate change and broken-heartedness both blatantly and seamlessly. (The Daily Mail recently published a report about a second split between Mendes and ex-girlfriend Camilla Cabello, whom he recently rekindled things with.)