Charlie Puth: Done for Me (feat. Kehlani)
Details
Genre: Pop, R&BPros:
A delicious mesh of pop and soul with Puth's sweeping vocals manages to turn this into one of the most attractive pop radio listens of 2018Cons:
It cuts off way too soon and sorta deserves a bridge to help prolong its goodness“Attention” singer pulls off a sexy Wham-esque thriller of a new single
“Attention” singer pulls off a sexy Wham-esque thriller of a new single
At the drop of the first few bars, Charlie Puth gives off a vocal siren, like faint cries in the wilderness. It’s a piercing crescendo held up by a whimpering falsetto resonating that of Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall, almost cut from a Justin Timberlake caliber. There is a classic Maroon 5 quality underneath the sheets on “Done for Me,” Puth’s fourth single off Voicenotes, but this feels right. It doesn’t sound mimicked. It doesn’t sound forced. It sounds like the perfect mesh of pop and soul. It helps that the enchanting synths and rhythm sounds like it’s been culled from the pages of Wham! (see “Everything She Wants”). The comparison is augmented when taking a gander at the selected single cover art, which strongly resembles Wham!’s gradient rainbow use on their 1986 LP, Music From the Edge of Heaven.
Inside the lyrics, Puth is struggling to understand the frantic behavior of a lover at some ritzy LA party (“If you wanna leave there ain’t nobody stopping you”). On the chorus, the “Attention” singer then unloads a list of things he’ll do for her before capping off with a ballsy question: “So tell me what you done for me?”
R&B singer Kehlani jumps in with the retort on the second verse, giving her protest of not bowing down to pressure. It’s quickly pulled off and patched up with a repeat of the chorus with both trading ad-libs. And shockingly, there’s no Puth comeback or a clear resolution to the problem. Then, I settle with this conclusion: As good as the sing-a-long chorus feels, maybe there shouldn’t be one. Save the happy endings for a Disney tale. Let the two wag while we soak in all this earful of goodness.
The only gripe to latch onto, even if it feels likes a selfish one, is that the under-two-minute journey feels like a shady tease. Maybe a sweet bridge would’ve healed all wounds. Still, with the bass-like beats, the elastic grooves and Puth putting on a confident swag atop sexy R&B crooning, this is a marveling performance for our times. More of this, please.
