Charlie Puth - Whatever’s Clever

Mar 30

Charlie Puth has tried a lot of things in his career. Some have worked out a lot better than others – his previous shift into fairly transparent TikTok pandering on his 2023 record Charlie, for example, turned out pretty disastrously. His latest venture, which can be heard on his fourth album Whatever’s Clever, released on March 27th via Atlantic, is a majorly retro-influenced sound, with some smooth 80s style grooves and spacey, nostalgic mixes – and, this time, it works out quite well.

The album is largely brought to life by its production, which is executed on a very high level. The instrumentation is lush and smooth, with the slightly distant-sounding drums making the instrumentals feel bigger and more resonant. The best of the instrumentation on the record is definitely the bass, though - the lines are crisp and prominent in the mixes, and really carry the grooves on highlight tracks like “Changes” or “Home”. The saxophone solo from Kenny G on “Cry” is also a major highlight of the record musically. The throwback aesthetic is admittedly a little watered down – some part of the soul of the music Charlie is aiming to emulate is lost in the process of adapting it to the modern day – but this slightly more sterile iteration is still compelling and fun to listen to. The record tails off slightly in the closing stretch, but the strong opening and fairly consistent quality through the tracklist does enough to make up for it.

Lyrically, Charlie Puth plays it safe, with standard themes of love and positivity without going too in-depth or taking any unique approaches; having said that, the lyrics do feel honest, and, for the most part, work just fine. Sometimes, they do slightly miss the mark in terms of really connecting. The closer, “I Used To Be Cringe” is probably the best example of this – Charlie’s vulnerability is admirable, but the use of the word “cringe” on the chorus really undermines the track’s ability to be taken fully seriously, and some of the other phrasing is also slightly off, rendering it, rather ironically, a little cringy.

However, Puth delivers at a pretty decent standard vocally – there’s no strenuous over-singing or overbearing attempts to be emotional; instead, the singing is quite smooth and effortless on the majority of the record, fitting in very well with the instrumentation. The features are quite random at face value, but each of them contributes in their own ways, with Coco Jones on “Sideways” and Hikaru Utada on the aforementioned “Home” arguably making the two strongest guest vocal appearances.

In conclusion, Whatever’s Clever is an album which feels much more sincere than a lot of Charlie Puth’s previous work – there’s no doubt that he is genuinely passionate about this style of music, and invested in working with some musicians he looks up to. The result is a little dull at times, and generally quite safe and inoffensive, but it’s very well-produced and features some really solid vocals; plus, in a time where feel-good music isn’t exactly the most common trend in the popular landscape, a record that is as upbeat as most of this is very much welcome. Even if it’s not a particularly standout LP on paper, and a little “style over substance” in places, it’s a very pleasant, wholesome listen nonetheless.

6.5/10

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