We should all praise Ellen Degeneres for finding so much amazing talent. Let me take a step back. She basically gave Justin Bieber his career platform and look where he is now! (Albeit a few mistakes here and there.) Following very closely is rising artist, Charlie Puth. Degeneres found Puth through YouTube when he covered Adele’s “Someone Like You.” Although things didn’t work out with Degeneres’ record label Eleveneleven, by the looks of it, things are going great for him.
Puth’s name really made a statement with his hit collaboration with Wiz Khalifa when they put out “See You Again” for the Furious 7 soundtrack, a tribute to the late actor Paul Walker. But it’s about time Puth stepped from behind the shadows and make a name for himself. On January 29, he released his debut album Nine Track Mind which was originally supposed to be released late last year. The wait is over and we can now plug into this album.
The first track is what put him on the map, “See You Again” minus Wiz Khalifa. This version has been making its rounds on local radio and survey says (according to my peers) that many prefer this version over the collaboration any day. In a touching song that Puth wrote due to his own personal experiences, it’s a great track for him to be introduced to the world with. There are only two other songs on the album that aren’t all about love: “Left Right Left,” an inspiring number about going towards your goal and puts a twist on the whole “Left. Left. Left. Right. Left.” military cadence, and “Losing My Mind,” something we’d probably all relate with when we’re realizing we’re way too into over our heads and need to slow down.
The rest of the album is basically a long love letter full of breakups, makeups, hookups and happy endings. Trust me when I say this is perfect playlist for the upcoming Valentine’s season.
If you’re in the beginning of a relationship, I recommend you check out “Then There’s You.” In the middle, “Some Type of Love,” “As You Are (feat. Shy Carter)” and “My Gospel.” If you’re going through a breakup, listen to “We Don’t Talk Anymore (feat. Selena Gomez),” “Up All Night” and “Dangerously.” And for that one-night stand, check out “Marvin Gaye (feat. Meghan Trainor)” and “Suffer.” Puth has got your back no matter what stage you’re in.
His vocals are raw and don’t seem to be played around with post-production, sort of like what we hear in most music these days (I’m looking to you, EDM). I suspect to see Charlie Puth to be nominated in multiple “Artists on the Rise” categories in the upcoming award ceremonies because he definitely deserves it. You can think of him as the male version of Meghan Trainor’s signature “Fifties-like” genre with multiple doo-wap, snappy vibes here and there. He managed to keep the album cohesive even with a tropical EDM type of song, “We Don’t Talk Anymore,” mixed with a sultry, seductive track like “Suffer.”
I will admit, I did hear some real similarities between Charlie Puth and artists like Elliot Yamin and Bruno Mars. Listen to “My Gospel” and tell me that this doesn’t remind you of Bruno’s hit song, “Grenade.” He croons about how he’ll buy red eye tickets to paris, rob a bank and throw himself out of a plane all just to prove he’s crazy about the girl he loves. What is it with guys doing the craziest things for their loved ones?
At the end of the day, this was a great first album for Charlie to introduce himself into the music industry. I think it’s about time we all knew him as just Charlie Puth and not as “the guy who does the vocals to ‘See You Again’ with Wiz! or ‘The Marvin Gaye song!’”
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8/10
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