december9–22, 2019 | newyork 101without irony. “It’s a rhythmic pocket
that’s just feeling,” he says of the cowbell
sound. “I added that and a couple of tin
cans, and I really think that because of
those percussive elements, the song had
more texture.” He likes placing odd
sounds in songs where they shouldn’t
make sense.
So the music he understands instinc-
tively. (If anything, the next challenge is
paring down the production just to dis-
prove his ideas about texture.) He’s less
assured about his songwriting, which he
quickly dismisses as simple. When asked
what he thinks makes his music resonate
with fans, he replies, “Probably that I take
sentences that they say and put melodies
to them. I don’t know if everyone can
relate to the fact of being in theirlate 20s
and not having ever said ‘I love you’ to
somebody.” He gets scared that his fans
are outfeeling him, that they’re more
emotionally advanced than his music.
He can’t always name the feeling he’s
after, but he knows it when hesees it:
His favorite movie scene ever is in Clue-
less, just before Paul Rudd kisses Alicia
Silverstone on the stairs. “Hekind of
Freudian-slip says, ‘Well, of course, you
know, you’re really beautiful.’ And who-
ever fucking filmed that was so genius to
not film him saying it,” he says. “They
kept it on her face the entire time. It was
almost an awkwardly long shot. She says,
‘Y ou think I’m beautiful?’ ” Puth is practi-
cally bouncing in his seat as he recounts
this. “I just get fucking chills! All over
my—‘You think I’m beautiful?’ Ilive for
that fucking moment, man, in songwrit-
ing. How do I get that moment and put
it into a song?” In this metaphor, Puthis
Silverstone, or maybe he’s Ruddandthe
song is Silverstone? Either way, he takes
out his phone and finds the sceneon
YouTube just to make sure I’m following
along. The sound quality isn’t to hislik-
ing, so he turns up the volume, cupshis
phone’s speaker with his hand, runsthe
scene back, and plays it again.
It’s a paradox Puth thinks about alot:
He’s writing and producing endlesslylis-
tenable songs—bops, even!—about rela-
tionships he’s still chasing in reallife.
“Cheating on You” is about a feelinghe
hasn’t had (loving someone so muchthat
every subsequent relationship only makes
you miss them more) but one he’s desper-
ate to experience. “I’ve never felt so enam-
ored with somebody that I can’t bring
myself to move on. And I’m not proudof
that,” he says. “I want to have heartbreak,
as masochistic as that is.” He just turned
28, but he thinks of himself as alate
bloomer emotionally. “I didn’t experience
a lotofthingsthatpeopleintheirteens
experience,”hesays.“Ididn’t evenlose
myvirginity tillI waslike 21.Everything
wassuper-delayedforme,’causeI guess
I wasalwaysjust sofocusedonthemusic
aspect.So nowI’mhavingdelayedemo-
tions.I’mstartingtofeelallthesethings
thatI should’vefeltaboutpeople,anyone,
longago.Weird,right?”
So what isPuthactuallylookingfor,
otherthana girlfriend?Heknowshowto
makea hitsong;it’s trickiertogetoutof
hisownheadaboutabsolutelyeverything
else. “It’s like making a song that many
people can relate to. If you overanalyze [it]
too much, it’s gonna be stiff and rigid, and
no one’s gonna like it,” he says. “But if it
just happens naturally, you know—” He
stops himself. “Did I compare writing a
song to finding someone to bein love
with? Yes, I did. But that’s the only thing
that I can relate it to.” ■“I’veneverfelt
soenamored
withsomebody
that I can’t
br ing myself to
move on. And
I’m not proud
of that.”Puth at Metropolis Vintage.