Charlie Puth has stayed coolly under the pop radar with the mom-and-pop appeal of a Disney kid turned mainstream artist. His fourth album, Whatever’s Clever!, pivots to a more reflective and self-aware sound based on recent experiences. While he calls it “dad pop,” it’s more commonly known as adult contemporary, which is usually an amalgam of popular songs from the 1970s to the early 2000s that range from yacht rock to easy listening to smooth jazz.
Think of the tracks that would play as you rode in the back seat of your parents’ car while it rained and you swore you were in your own music video. The album was produced by Puth and Mike Tucker, also known as BloodPop, who has helped create pop anthems for Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, HAIM, Madonna, Britney Spears, RAYE and Charli XCX.
Puth’s first single and album track, “Changes,” accepts the terms of change, whether in relationships, life events or otherwise. Speaking of which, he’s a dad-to-be, something he highlighted in its fantastically nostalgic music video. The song has remnants of Peter Gabriel’s choral sections and Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s “That’s the Way It Is,” from the bright piano solo to the spacious drums and even in its lyrics.
The following track, “Beat Yourself Up,” is an even brighter, funky, horn-filled pop ballad about giving yourself grace for surviving past mistakes rather than ruminating on them. Next up is “Cry,” featuring alto saxophone phenom Kenny Gorelick, also known as Kenny G, whom I affectionately refer to as “Jazz Jesus.” It’s a reassuring midtempo ballad encouraging listeners to let their tears flow instead of constantly masking emotions.
“Washed Up” is another feel-good, harmonious track with notes of Sade’s “Smooth Operator” and Earth, Wind & Fire’s “That’s the Way of the World,” reassuring the listener for their help even when they refuse to ask and end up in a worse predicament. “New Jersey” is an R&B-flavored track with touches of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in the production. Featuring Ravyn Lenae, of “Love Me Not” fame, they completely trash the state’s reputation due to having heartbreak while there.
“Don’t Meet Your Heroes” is a slow-burning, jazzy piano-orchestral ballad about the letdown from putting a love interest on a pedestal. A mid-2000s-style love song, “Home” features Japanese American pop star Hikaru Utada, crooning about how their living space is incomplete without them, accompanied by cinematic orchestration reminiscent of an anime’s end credits scene.
“Hey Brother” is a James Taylor-tinged track reflecting on the nostalgia of sibling rivalry and reinforcing a familial bond with his brother through a vocal and guitar solo. “Sideways” is a groovy R&B-soft rock ballad about weathering the treacherous extremes of relationships at their worst, intertwined with soulful vocals and another orchestral-vocal outro.
“Love in Exile” has Puth joining forces with yacht rock and blue-eyed soul veterans Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins to explore the end stages of a relationship when love is no longer reciprocated. “Until It Happens to You” starts with a spoken intro by actor and singer Jeff Goldblum, followed by harmonic vocals and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. The track then turns into a snappy Motown-style song with hints of “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes or “Maneater” by Hall & Oates, carrying the feel of a 1980s children’s cartoon intro.
On “I Used to Be Cringe,” over nothing more than a guitar and his layered vocals, Puth humbly confesses to using popular slang, wearing strange outfits and getting wild haircuts simply to fit in and chase the Hollywood dreams he wanted in his youth. He asks forgiveness from those he may have hurt or abandoned in his pursuit of it all.
The standard edition of the album ends there, but on the expanded edition, the bonus track “Reply to This” sounds very much like Puth’s earlier work, reassuring a girl that she doesn’t have to respond to his messages of affection, he just wants to make sure she read them. The Japanese edition, however, holds the hidden gem “Holding On for Dear Life,” about drunkenly falling for a girl at a party he knows he can’t have, giving in to every urge to pursue her. If he had her, he says, he would hold her and never let go.
Whatever’s Clever! breaks Puth out of his comfort zone and embraces different musical eras and collaborators. It takes a lot to be self-aware of your façade, embrace your authentic self and endure the growing pains of transitioning into the role of a father figure. It’s a definite feel-good album with a solid tribute to the soundscape of yesteryear.
Cleverly done, Charlie.
7/10
If you want to hear him live, he’ll perform at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on May 23 with special guests Daniel Seavey and Ally Salort as part of his world tour.
