Voicenotes is the second
studio album by American singer-songwriter
Charlie Puth. Almost entirely produced by Puth himself,[3] the album was released by
Artist Partner Group and
Atlantic Records on May 11, 2018. Five singles have been released from the album, including "
Attention" and "
How Long". "Attention" peaked at number 5 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and "How Long" peaked at number 21.
Puth delayed the album from an early 2018 release date to "perfect" it, including reshooting the album cover.[3] He announced on social media that he would release the album cover and the song "
The Way I Am" on May 3.[4] Puth embarked on the
Voicenotes Tour in support of the album in North America throughout July and August 2018.[5]
Puth described the sound of the album as "like walking down a dirt road and listening to
New Edition in 1989 – and being heartbroken, of course."[3] He also remarked that he wanted a sound akin to the late 1980s "dark R&B" of
Babyface,
Jimmy Jam,
Terry Lewis and
Teddy Riley.[3] Puth also stated the album will have no love ballads, explaining he wished to distance himself from the sound of his first album, which was "people nudging [me] in a direction that I didn't want to go in."[6]
Promotion
Singles
"
Attention", released as the first single from the album on April 21, 2017, was met with commercial success, peaking at number five on the
Billboard Hot 100.[7] "
How Long", released as the album's second single on October 5, 2017, peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top 20 in several markets.[7] "
Done for Me", the third single, was released on March 15, 2018, and features
Kehlani. "
Change" featuring
James Taylor was released as the fourth single on March 26, 2018.[8] "
The Way I Am" was released as the album's fifth single on July 24, 2018.[9]
Promotional singles
"
If You Leave Me Now", featuring
Boyz II Men, was released as the album's first promotional single on January 5, 2018, after Puth delayed the album.[10] "The Way I Am" was released as the second promotional single on May 3, 2018, along with the new album cover.[11]
Voicenotes received generally positive reviews from critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average score of 67 based on five reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12] In a positive review of the album, Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic called Voicenotes a "guilty pleasure" and noted that Puth is not aiming for
Ed Sheeran "everyguy relatability".[17] Taylor Weatherby of Billboard named Voicenotes the album of the week, praising Puth's rawness, and the collaborations included on the album.[18] Mark Kennedy of The Washington Post praised the album, calling it "perfect pop", and stating that Puth has a fantastic career in front of him.[1] In another positive review of the album, Nicholas Hautman of Us Weekly called the album "perfect for the summer", and called it "perfectly crafted".[16]
In a mixed review of the album, Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone gave the album three out of five stars, saying "…while [Puth’s] efforts on Voicenotes are valiant, he still has a bit more work to prove he can cut his teeth with the
Justin Timberlakes and the
Nick Jonases of that over-saturated world.[2]"
Commercial performance
Voicenotes debuted at number four on the US
Billboard 200 with 58,000
album-equivalent units of which 39,000 were pure album sales.[19] On May 14, 2018, the album was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States.
In 2018, Voicenotes was ranked as the 130th most popular album of the year on the Billboard 200.[20]
^"Czech Albums – Top 100".
ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 20.Týden 2018 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved April 8, 2019.