CHARLIE / Charlie Puth / October 7, 2022
- Joshua Yoo
- Oct 22, 2022
- 2 min read
With no shortage of media attention that he (and his musicianship) has received in the years since his last album released, it feels like it has become a culturally accepted statement that Charlie Puth is a very talented musician. A self-titled album would seem to be the most fitting space to show it, but ‘CHARLIE’ is far from that, revealing how much he can pigeon-hole his talents into a very flat and unsavory brand of pop music.
There’s a difference between kid-at-heart and childish, and Charlie blurs this line consistently with the vapid lyricism (“I Don’t Think That I Like Her”) and overly simplistic song structures (“There’s A First Time For Everything”) audible in nearly every corner of the album. Sifting through each track, the album flips between bitter misgivings about the past and lovesick thoughts on the present, but neither side is presented with much detail or refinement at all.
It might be possible to hear a sort of bright, sparkling quality to the album’s sound, but it’s actually just the inordinate amount of touch-up Charlie’s voice has on practically every song, exceeding any natural human timbre at times. Throwing in numerous unflattering vocal effects and a baffling amount of distorted guitar passages, it’s clear his target audience is on the younger side.
As long as there is a demand for this kind of brand of pop music (which there still is plenty), Charlie Puth may continue on this path, but one can hope that he ventures into more thoughtfully and creatively arranged music eventually. With his base talent, there’s plenty to be excited about this thought.
Highlight(s): Smells Like Me
Lowlight(s): I Don’t Think I Like Her, That’s Hilarious, There’s A First Time For Everything, Tears On My Piano, Charlie Be Quiet!, Loser
SCORE: 2/10
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