Shawn Mendes debuted “When You’re Gone” during a concert Saturday night in Austin, Texas.
The 23-year-old Canadian singer, who had shared a 30-second preview of the track on Instagram a few days earlier, performed the track at the Moody Amphitheater, where he helped close out SXSW.
“I don’t want to know what it’s like when you’re gone,” he sang. “I don’t want to move on / I don’t want to know what it’s like when you’re gone for good / Slipping through my fingertips a little bit by a little bit / I didn’t know that loving you was the happiest I’ve ever been / So I’m just trying to hold on.”
The lyrics included: “Starting to feel like you don’t need me / Want to believe it’s all for the better / It’s getting real missing you deeply, girl.”
Of course, the song was inspired by Mendes’ split last year from Camila Cabello.
Prior to hitting the stage in Austin, Mendes shared a clip on Instagram in which he is talking about “When You’re Gone.”
“You don’t realize, like, when you’re, like, breaking up with someone and you, like, think it’s the right thing to do… you don’t realize all the s**t that comes after it,” Mendes explained. “Which is, like, who do I call when I’m, like, in a panic attack? Who do I call when I’m, like, f**king on the edge?
“You know, and I think that’s the reality that kind of hit me, is, like, ‘I’m on my own now. Now I feel like I’m finally, like, I’m actually on my own’ and I hate that. That’s my reality, you know.”
“When You’re Gone,” out March 31, follows the post-breakup single “It’ll Be Okay,” which failed to crack the Top 40 in the U.S. or Canada.
Cabello has done better with “Bam, Bam,” her post-split single featuring Ed Sheeran – it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 23. She sings: “That’s just life, baby / Yeah, love came around and it knocked me down / But I'm back on my feet.”
Earlier this month, Cabello addressed the end of her relationship with Mendes. “I f**king love Shawn,” she said. “And I feel like there is literally nothing but love for him.”
During his 11-song Austin show, Mendes performed hits like “If I Can’t Have You,” “Treat You Better,” “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” and “In My Blood” as well as his Justin Bieber collaboration “Monster.” He sang a slowed-down version of “Señorita” (his duet with Cabello) at the piano and invited a girl from the crowd on stage to join him on “305.”
Mendes kicks off his Wonder world tour on June 27 in Portland, Oregon. It includes stops in Vancouver on July 2, Edmonton on July 5 and Montreal on Aug. 15 and 16.