Charlie Puth On ‘Whatever’s Clever!’, Fatherhood, And Returning To The Philippines
Ahead of his October 14 Manila show, Charlie Puth talks about his most personal album yet, writing from lived experience, fatherhood, and his enduring connection with Filipino fans.
Charlie Puth. Photographed by Jay Wang.
Charlie Puth. Photographed by Jay Wang.
Charlie Puth has always approached songwriting with precision, but his latest album Whatever’s Clever! finds him looking more closely at his own life. His most personal album yet, the record draws from changing friendships, love, uncertainty, and experiences he had never written about before.
That honesty made the process uncomfortable at times, with Puth often starting from conversations and thoughts before melodies or chords. Now, as a new father and an artist entering a more hopeful chapter, he says he is “falling back in love with love songs” and wants his music to remain parallel to whatever he is experiencing in life.
Ahead of his upcoming Manila show at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on October 14, Puth talks to Billboard Philippines about Whatever’s Clever!, his evolving creative process, fatherhood, and the Filipino fans who supported his music from the beginning.
Billboard Philippines: Your latest album Whatever’s Clever! feels like a playful title on the surface. What does it represent creatively and emotionally for you at this stage of your career?
Charlie Puth: I think what it represents is zooming in on me. I feel like I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of a lot of hit songs, and I realized that there was like a missing hole, or better said, a hole that needed to be filled [with] maybe my fans understanding me more, me personally, and things that I’ve gone through. Sometimes they might not even like the song because of it, because it’s so hyper-specific, but I just had to do it.
I feel like I owe it to my fans, especially my fans in the Philippines, who I haven’t seen in eight years. Sorry about that. Not going to ever happen again.
Billboard Philippines: You’ve always been very detail-oriented when it comes to songwriting and production. How did your creative process evolve while making this record compared to your previous albums? There was an interview in which you said something like you put your thoughts in first before the melodies and other stuff.
Charlie Puth: Yeah, well, I would definitely echo that. There would be days sometimes where there wouldn’t be any melodies or any chords. It would just purely be based in conversation, and then it made me a bit uncomfortable at times.
The most uncomfortable I had ever been while making a record, but that’s because there was so much honesty, and things that I hadn’t sung about before. But I thought it would make for some interesting music.
Photographed by Jay Wang.
Billboard Philippines: Can you name an instance in which a specific experience would influence a certain song?
Charlie Puth: “Changes,” which is the first song, is about a changing friendship and someone you were hip to hip for so long, suddenly that goes away. And you don’t know why it goes away, but it’s just because of the changing tides in life. And change happens whether we want it to or not. And sometimes that’s a scary thing. And I thought to myself, “Well, why don’t I write a song about that?”
Billboard Philippines: You became a father shortly after finishing Whatever’s Clever! Looking back at the record now, are there lyrics, emotions, or themes that unexpectedly resonate differently with you after entering this new chapter of your life?
Charlie Puth: I’m falling back in love with love songs. I think for a while I was. It’s not that I dislike them.
I just always want to make music that’s parallel — exactly parallel to whatever I’m going through in life. I can’t just make up an instance and pretend I’m going through something when I’m not. So now that I’m just in love with so many things every day, I can sing about them, then I can allow myself to write about them.
Billboard Philippines: So it’s more honest.
Charlie Puth: Yeah — like I said, this is definitely the most honest project I’ve ever [done]. But I’ve been carrying that mentality since I was like… you know, in 2015, when we first started talking, I when I first came to the Philippines, and with my debut album, that’s just what I was going through at the time. If I broke up with somebody, I’m going to write about it. I’m not going to break up with anybody anymore.
Photographed by Jay Wang.
Billboard Philippines: Even if fatherhood came after the album was completed, has becoming a parent changed the way you now think about songwriting, vulnerability, or the kinds of stories you want to tell moving forward?
Charlie Puth: I mean, a song is a song. And I still want to make people feel understood. I want to make my Filipino fans feel understood.
If there’s an emotion that they’re going through in their lives that they might have a hard time spelling out, or conveying to somebody or to friends or to family, or even themselves, sometimes it takes a while to realize what you’re going through. I want to be the person that gives them the alley-oop. I want to be the musician that writes something that makes them feel understood.
Billboard Philippines: You’re returning to the Philippines for a show at SM Mall of Asia Arena on October 14, 2026, marking your fourth time to perform in our country. What made you decide to go back on tour this year, and what memories stand out to you about performing for Filipino fans?
Charlie Puth: I put my foot down, to be completely honest, and I was like, “We have to go back to the Philippines.” They’re one of the first, my fans there, the first country that really, really supported “One Call Away” and my early music. They sent it up the charts, and they did it organically. This is before TikTok and everything. So I would be doing a disservice if I just… it wouldn’t be right not to go back. So we made it happen. And I’m very happy we made it happen.
And memories, probably coming up with the idea for “We Don’t Talk Anymore,” and then going back a couple years later and performing it there. That was really full circle. Just feeling like I had never played for that many people back in 2015. I think it was like a very small [show], we were in a mall or something like that. Six, seven thousand people were there. It was all new experiences for me. I had to have a security guard. I was like, “This is such a strange, strange feeling.” But it was all new. And it just reminds me of such a fine time in my life, the beginning of my career.
Photographed by Jay Wang.
Billboard Philippines: What can the Filipino audience expect from this upcoming show? Are you going to play more songs from the new record?
Charlie Puth: I’m going to play everything equally: Voicenotes, new record, Nine Track Mind, CHARLIE record. Nobody’s going to feel disappointed. The people who love the first album are going to be very happy. The people who love the new album are going to be very happy. Hopefully everybody loves everything.
But I think the new thing that people will get out of this show is [that] I just think we’ve just become so much better as performers, me and my band. And there’s a lot more people on stage, but it doesn’t take away from the nucleus of these songs.
Billboard Philippines: Looking at where you are now — new music, fatherhood, touring — what do you think this current era of your life sounds like compared to the Charlie Puth people first met years ago?
Charlie Puth: Well, I think coming up because by the way, I’m never going to let four years go by without an album. I’d like to put albums out more frequently just because I can make music quicker now. And I’m just very inspired.
I think there’s a lot more love songs in my future. And I think what music sounds like right now for me is very joyful and hopeful, not dark and angsty. That might circle back one day, but I don’t, maybe in a different kind of way.
Billboard Philippines: Well, as long as it’s honest, people will appreciate it.
Charlie Puth: Absolutely. It has to be honest.
The Manila leg of Charlie Puth’s ‘Whatever’s Clever!’ World TourWorld TourA series of concerts held across multiple countries and continents, usually to support a new album or career milestone. World tours demonstrate an artist's international reach, and Philippine stops haveGo to World Tour Glossary happens on October 14, 2026 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, and is presented by Live Nation Philippines. Tickets are still available here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Charlie Puth performs at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on October 14, 2026. It is his fourth show in the Philippines and his first return in eight years. He says the setlist will draw equally from Nine Track Mind, Voicenotes, CHARLIE, and Whatever’s Clever!
Whatever’s Clever! is Charlie Puth’s most personal album, drawing on changing friendships, love, and uncertainty. He says it zooms in on himself, with hyper-specific songs about experiences he had not written about before, such as the opening track “Changes,” which addresses a friendship that fades.
Puth often began with conversations and thoughts rather than melodies or chords, and some writing days had no music at all. He describes it as the most uncomfortable recording process of his career, because of the honesty involved and subjects he had not sung about before.
Puth became a father shortly after finishing Whatever’s Clever! He says he is falling back in love with love songs and wants his music to stay parallel to his life. He describes his current direction as joyful and hopeful rather than dark and angsty.
The Philippines was among the first countries to support “One Call Away,” sending it up the charts organically before TikTok, according to Puth. He first visited in 2015, and says he pushed to return because it would be a disservice not to go back to those early supporters.
