Shawn Mendes reckons he may have finally outgrown his teen pop persona – even admitting he wasn’t a very good performer in the past.

The Stitches singer has released his second album, Illuminate, and said he has already noticed people taking him more seriously.

Shawn, 18, said of the new release: “Within one day, within a few hours, I feel like everything has changed. Like a switch was just turned.

Shawn Mendes
Shawn has a new album out (Jordan Strauss/AP)

“When I first started performing live, I could do it, I wasn’t that impressive, but I worked so hard at the two most important things in my career… songwriting and performing.”

He added that a recent sell-out show at Madison Square Garden in New York had gone much better than he’d expected, too.

Shawn Mendes
Shawn reckons he’s a better performer now (Chris Pizzello/AP)

Shawn said: “I thought it was going to be the worst show Madison Square Garden ever saw (but) it was the best show of my entire life.

“I’m so proud of myself and I don’t mean proud of myself in a conceited way. I truly worked really hard to get there and to make a great show.”