Charlie Puth Teases New Album and What Taylor Swift 'Nudged' Him to Do on It (Exclusive)

Charlie Puth is ready to try something new, thanks to a very famous pop star.

The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, 32, is in the middle of working on his next album – following the release of his latest single “Hero” – and says fans can expect something different this time around.

“You can expect what you always expect from me, which is chords and key changes and what I think are interesting beats production-wise,” he tells PEOPLE while discussing his partnership with BIC ahead of the back-to-school season. “I always think about what I’ve been missing every time I start a new project, and one thing I’d like to improve even more is storytelling. And maybe that lies in the lyrics and making the lyrics a little more less A, B, C, D.”

While this might be new for Puth, he took some pointers from someone who knows a thing or two about baring the heart in song.

Taylor Swift performs in Munich, Germany in July 2024.

Thomas Niedermueller/TAS24/Getty

“Taylor Swift kind of pushed me to do it,” he says. “And I think that’s the way she approaches her songwriting and that’s how I’m going to approach this next album.”

Puth says that for now he plans to do “everything by himself,” which has proven “challenging” because it means working his day and “waiting[ing] for the melody to appear.”

“But it’s really, really worth it when it all adds up.” he admits.

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The buzz surrounding Puth and Swift’s relationship started a few months ago after the latter dropped the “Attention” singer on her album Department for tortured poets.

“You smoked and then ate seven bars / We declared that Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist,” Swift sings on the album’s title track.

Charlie Puth performs on stage during A GRAMMY Salute to the Beach Boys in February 2023.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Following the album’s release, Puth released his latest single, “Hero” — a song he says is different from the music he’s released in the past.

“It’s one of the hardest songs I’ve ever had to write, but I wrote it in the hopes that you’ve been through something similar in your life and that it can fill the Void for you like it did for me.” Puth wrote on Instagram announcing the song’s debut.

“I’m so excited to share my next album with you, especially this song because it’s a great showcase of what’s to come. I’ve never released a song like this before – it’s very different for me, but I want to thank @taylorswift for letting me know musically that I can’t keep this on my hard drive anymore,” he continued.

Puth told PEOPLE that while the two “don’t really know each other that well,” music is their “connective tissue.”

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“I’m sure it would be great if we could see each other, but I always think that music is very beautiful, you don’t have to talk to someone every day,” he says.

“Music just has so much connective tissue. And I just think it’s nice when artists shout out other artists or support other artists, which she is. Especially with Sabrina [Carpenter] and Gracie [Abrams] and Ice Spice and anyone else in there — and [Aaron] Dessner.”

“I would like to support other artists as well, which again goes back to BIC, which is another reason why I wanted to partner with BIC because they literally support teachers and artists,” he says, explaining why the partnership was a natural fit ahead of BIC Creativity A camp he’s organizing with the brand for students and teachers in New York on Wednesday.

Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter perform in Sydney in February 2024.

Don Arnold/TAS24/Getty

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Although “Hero” won’t be on the album, he says the upcoming record will “make a lot of sense” once it’s released.

“I want them to hear [the album] and go, ‘Ah, I know what she was talking about,'” he says of Swift’s song.

“I’m perfectly happy with where I’m at, but if being a bigger artist means I can inspire more people to want to do what I’m doing, then that’s great,” he says.

And while that hasn’t happened yet, Puth says he hopes to make it to the Eras Tour before it ends later this year.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education