Since the release of his last album in 2022, Charlie Puth has been hard at work laying the foundation for his next full-length project. “Hero,” the lead single from his upcoming fourth album, is out now, offering a dream-like taste of the new LP.
“‘Hero’ is about when you see someone you love hurting themselves, ruining the things in their life that are good, but you just can’t save them,” Puth shared in an Instagram post about the track. “It’s one of the hardest songs I’ve ever had to write, but I wrote it in hopes that you’ve gone through something similar in your life, and that it can fill in the blank for you like it did for me."
"I’m very excited to share my next album with you, especially this song because it’s a great representation of what’s to come,” he continued. “I’ve never put out a song like this before. It’s very different for me.”
Puth conveys this emotion of well-meaning desperation on the song. “‘I don't need a hero, I don't want to be saved’ / But I said, ‘I'll be here every night and day,’” he sings as if mimicking a real conversation. “I don't need a hero, but if you let me stay / Oh, I can still be here every night and day.”
Though it might be a touching song, Puth himself confessed that the process of making “Hero” was more straightforward than many would think.
“Just because all my stuff usually has so many f**king layers, I’m like, ‘Is this song too simple?’” he told Rolling Stone of the track. “There’s three sounds. I recorded this guitar with a f**king iPhone. It’s the first time that’s happened to me where I didn’t feel the need to add more. I’m stuck to it. I just found this loop off f**king Reddit. And that’s it.”
“It’s a first for me,” the Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree continued. “Everything is usually tuning all the vocals and making sure everything sounds perfect. I want everything to feel like there’s a band in there, and there’s someone just hitting record.”