Charlie Puth Calls on Dan + Shay for “That’s Not How This Works”

Charlie Puth is stepping outside of pop music in his new collaboration.

Videos by American Songwriter

The hit singer, songwriter and producer has teamed up with chart-topping country duo Dan + Shay on “That’s Not How This Works.” Co-written by Puth and the duo’s Dan Smyers, the electro-pop song tells the story of a man grappling with an ex who’s giving him mixed signals and messing with his head. While Puth takes lead vocals in the first verse, he makes way for Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay in the second verse. Mooney later begs her to stop making excuses to get together knowing that she has ulterior motives.

The two acts then unite on the chorus as they harmonize, you can’t say you hate me / Then call me when you’re hurt / Baby, you know that’s not how this works / You can’t walk away / Then come back to what we were / Baby, you know that’s not how this work.

Puth also released a short film to accompany the track wherein Sabrina Carpenter plays his love interest. The video captures sweet moments like when she surprised him on his birthday with a new piano, to the painful breakup.

In an Instagram post, Puth shared that he and Dan + Shay wrote the song over Zoom in April 2020 amidst a series of musical changes. He says he always had the song in the back of his mind, “because I knew how special it was,” he expresses.

“It was after all the song that propelled me into the next phase of my life. It was the song that healed me,” he continues. “With all of these feelings that I hadn’t come face to face with before, I finally mustered up the courage to put a melody against them. When you listen to this song, I hope you feel what I felt when I wrote it- a sense of relief.”

“Really proud of this song we created with our friend + musical genius @charlieputh,” Dan + Shay added.

Puth recently announced his summer-long tour, The Charlie Live Experience. He kicks off the trek on May 21 in Mexico and concludes on July 11 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

Photo by: Kenneth Cappello/Courtesy ID PR

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