Attention music Lovers! single-smells-like-me/”>Charlie Puth unveiled his latest collaboration — a new short film titled “That’s Not How This Works” — on Wednesday (March 29), featuring singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter.
The visuals follow the 31-year-old and the 23-year-old, co-starring as two hapless lovers in the short film, through the beginning and end of their fictional Relationship, who go from being in love to bickering, signifying the downfall of their relationship.
This short film precedes Puth’s new single, also titled “That’s Not How This Works,” slated to release on March 31. He first previewed a song snippet on his official TikTok account back in January 2023, and in classic Charlie Puth fashion, he shared with his fans and audience bytes of how he came up with the beat and everything around this impending single. There will be two versions of the single: the first version features Dan + Shay and will be out on March 31, while the second version features Sabrina Carpenter, presumably sharing her side of the love story, which will release on April 14.
The six-minute short film portrays the fictional romance between Puth and Carpenter, giving you a glimpse into the life of two people who are deeply in love yet going through a turbulent but lovely relationship all at once. At the beginning of the short film, there’s a quote that says, “Everyone’s memory is their own private literature” by Aldous Huxley.
In the opening sequence, Charlie Puth explores the interior of a plastic-covered, empty room while carrying a load of blinking gadgets. We find the singer listening back to his cassette tapes, as he loses himself deeply in distinct memories and moments he shared with his lover. The relationship arc plays back in his mind, and the heartbroken singer tries to capture the memories in sound. And as the audience, we relive each scene as if we were travelling down memory lane alongside him.
Then the camera pans to shots of the actors portraying a Couple happily in love while their soft, intimate scenes flash across the screen. As the present-day Puth plays back tape recordings, we see his lover gifting him a gorgeous upright piano for his birthday while watching him blow out the candles on his cake to other scenes where they are flirtatiously painting their apartment together and playfully debating whether he can boil a live crab to make a romantic dinner.
Yet the soaring highs, like confessing their feelings to each other and saying “I love you” for the first time or playing a candlelit game of operation, eventually turn a corner to the lows full of heartbreaking fights and inner turmoil. “I don’t care that you were flirting, I just want you to admit that you were,” yells Puth as their relationship crumbles to death.
On TikTok, Charlie announced his forthcoming single and music video for “That’s Not How This Works” which comes on the heels of his short film. He wrote:
“To Date, I’ve made 34 music videos, and they rarely feel like they say the whole truth about a song. There’s always more to say, and it’s usually just outside the music. It’s more in the moments, and that’s how my brain has always processed things – finally, I was able to make something to recreate truly what this song means to me. I cannot wait for you to hear it. But first, you have to watch the movie – I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. Thank you endlessly to Sabrina Carpenter, for your trust and immense talent – you carried us. Thank you to Phillip R. Lopez & Matthew Daniel Siskin and the entire film crew for bringing this to life. “That’s Not How This Works’ (feat. Dan + Shay) drops tomorrow at 9 pm PT.”
The forthcoming song will mark the first new release from Charlie in the wake of his self-titled 2022 album “Charlie.” Next, he’ll be hitting the road this May for The Charlie Live Experience tour with openers Blue DeTiger and Alexander Stewart, starting at Mexico’s Corona Capital Festival, and stopping at venues including Austin’s Moody Amphitheater, New York’s Radio City Music Hall, and Los Angeles’ Greek Theater.
Meanwhile, Sabrina Carpenter just unveiled the deluxe edition of her own breakthrough 2022 album, titled “Emails I Can’t Send Fwd”, which featured new bonus tracks “Feather,” “Lonesome” and “Things I Wish You Said” as well as a remix of her hit single “Nonsense” with Coi Leray. She’s currently on the second leg of her tour across North America to promote her album.
Watch the “That’s Not How It Works” short film below:
Share your thoughts on the new short film with us on Twitter at @CelebMix!
