On October 1, 2018, Puth announced that he was working on a new album.[4] He first hinted at the title of the track on August 10, 2019 on his Instagram with the caption "i Warned Myself this would happen".[5] A week later, he officially announced the release date and posted the cover art of the song.[6] The song marks the first of three single releases.[7] Puth revealed that the song is about "a vicious cycle of going back to someone continuously, knowing deep down that they aren't any good for you".[8]
Critical reception
Salvatore Maicki at The Fader thought the song had an "undeniably sticky hook" and noted the "sparse, rumbling production".[9] Writing for Vulture, Hunter Harris pointed out the lyrical content to be "about love and loss, secrets and lies — basically a breakup" and questioned who the song could be about, with possibilities ranging from a fan to fellow singer Selena Gomez.[10][11] Derrick Rossignol at Uproxx praised the song for being a "a dark and welcomed addition to the Billie Eilish-led pop landscape".[1]
Music video
The music video was released along with the song on August 21, 2019, and was directed by Brendan Vaughn.[12] The video shows Puth being surrounded by a love interest in various settings and also includes scenes of the singer driving in a red Jaguar F-type coupe.[13] Kirsten Spruch at Billboard noted that in the video "Puth serves up plenty of somber glances", while Sofiana Ramli of NME described the visuals as "hypnotizing".[12][14]
