Charlie Puth's new album, "Voicenotes," suggests he has the depth and vision to stand apart from a lot of his colleagues in the current issue of "Young Attractive Pop Star Quarterly."

Puth's songs are immediately distinctive not just because he has a pretty wonderful and versatile voice. But there's also substance there. He's clearly a big fan of pop music both old and new — in terms of melody, structures and production values — and I'd bet he's spent as much time listening to Stevie Wonder, Tears for Fears and Gotye as he has Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake and Drake.

Hell, I don't know. Maybe he sits in his Beverly Hills cabana and listens to polka. But he's a very good pop songwriter at a time when "pop" is a largely shallow and formulaic art form. It'll be interesting to see how his stage show is when he performs tonight in the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Charlie Puth, 7:30 p.m. tonight, Mohegan Sun Arena; with Hailee Steinfeld; $29.50-$49.50; 1-800-745-3000.