Following the chart-topping success of his debut single “Marvin Gaye” ft. Meghan Trainor, and his “Furious Seven” collaboration “See You Again” with Wiz Khalifa, anticipation for Charlie Puth’s latest release “We Don’t Talk Anymore” ft. Selena Gomez was high.
With its soft beats and somber melody,“We Don’t Talk Anymore” tells the story of two estranged lovers mulling over their past relationship and dreading the thought of each other belonging to somebody else.
The song opens with Puth crooning the song’s chorus, accompanied by delicate acoustic guitar strumming in the background. While the guitar continues throughout the intro and the rest of the song, the first verse introduces a synthetic pop beat, creating a steady and catchy rhythm that makes “We Don’t Talk Anymore” a great dance track.
While the song’s sound exceeds expectations, its lyrics lack complexity, generating a less-than-authentic message. When Puth belts out the first verse — “I just heard you found the one you've been looking / You've been looking for / I wish I would have known that wasn't me / 'Cause even after all this time I still wonder / Why I can't move on / Just the way you did so easily” — the song comes off as trite and repetitive because of its countless similarities to other pop songs.
Although lines such as “I just hope you're lying next to somebody / Who knows how to love you like me / There must be a good reason that you're gone” in Gomez’s part of the song demonstrate more lyrical creativity, the song still lacks depth.
Despite the dearth of originality in the lyrics, Puth shines once again in his ability to showcase his vocal versatility. In both the first verse and the chorus, he breezes through the high notes, hitting each one with perfection.
However, Gomez’s performance fails to meet the same standards. Throughout the song, her vocals sound compressed and over-processed, making her voice seem computer-generated rather than natural.
Overall, “We Don’t Talk Anymore” has all the qualities of a top-100 hit. Perhaps with a different duet partner and more versatile lyrics, Puth’s latest single may have been able to garner more notoriety within the first week of its release.
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