After having established himself rather well in the pop spectrum with soul tendency, Charlie Puth is back with the album Voicenotes, which this time leaves more room for the singer's voice and a less watered down atmosphere.
An album that lives up to the singer's ambitions
Hit after hit, Charlie Puth is undeniably part of the new generation of singers of recent years who impose their style in music. Having sung alongside Meghan Trainor or Selena Gomez, he was able to show us that we could be a soft pop singer while bringing a more personal touch and against marketing trends. For Voicenotes, Charlie Puth had said he did not want to fall into the trap of the collection of ballads with rosewater, a label that began to stick to his skin after Nine Track Mind, his first opus released in 2016.
As in politics, promises made for a time can be disappointing when they are not kept. Even if most of the titles that dress this album are much more rhythmic, some stick to the image that the public already has of Charlie Puth. In duet with Boyz II Men on If You Leave Me Now or on Patient and Change with James Taylor, Charlie is delighted not to have been totally honest about his abandonment of ballads. It would have been a shame especially when you have such an impeccable, melodious and emotional voice.
Attention, 1st extract of Voicenotes
Remember that this young singer from New Jersey was known to the public thanks to the poignant title See You Again by Wiz Khalifa in 2015, which served as a tribute to actor Paul Walker, who died in a car accident. A month before, he released with Meghan Trainor the single Marvin Gaye, the first single from his very first album. This was followed by the singles We Don't Talk Anymore with Selena Gomez and One Call Away, which allowed, in his very young career, to impose a style well defined by the singer.
Pianist, singer with a deep voice and plucked in the highest notes, Charlie Puth is reminiscent in many ways of a Phil Collins (the similarities here are focused on the artistic perception that these two singers exude). Both adored by pop lovers, they both quickly earned the respect of an audience more sensitive to more advanced musical styles. For Charlie, it will be soul and R&B. Like his elder, Charlie Puth is sometimes described as an artist whose direction seems uncertain and in conclusion rather flat. Detractors will always have their formula not to accept that a singer can draw at will from the influences he likes and make his own music.
A promising career whose path is not complete
In Voicenotes, Charlie Puth tries to direct his music towards other feelings. Largely inspired by the new-jack of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Charlie Puth explores on certain titles such as Empty Cups or Done for Me in duet with Kehlani, a facet less present in his first album. He also makes us completely dance to Slow It Down, a title half daft-punk half-groove. Much more danceable and catchy, these songs are there to start a new chapter in the musical career of the young prodigy.
Done for Me (feat. Kehlani), 3rd excerpt from Voicenotes
Rightly, Charlie Puth is one of the most talented singers pop has seen blossom in recent years. We will not return to his artistic abilities which are as obvious as they transpire on his music at full pulsation, but rather concerning the path he wishes to impulse to his career. This album is not a musical revolution for the main interested party, but allows the artist to make us discover another face of his musical personality. Voicenotes is a logical evolution, after a first album certainly charming, but sometimes uneven in its intentions.
Voicenotes has at least brought cohesion to the music of its own creator. The maturity is heard as much in the voice, as the compositions and the way in which the atmosphere of the opus is measured. In a more global perspective, Charlie Puth has in him all the tools to continue to improve, a bit like a good wine whose maturity will give it even more layers and depth.
7/10
