Carly Rae Jepsen’s sound is cotton candy, a warm sweetness covered in full pop and bright colors; a sound you can taste. Following her 2019 album Dedicated, she released Dedicated Side B this 2020. This record is an artifice that accompanies us as we journey to the gleam of humanity conquering these times.
‘This Love Isn’t Crazy’ was the start to an album that colored love in rose-tint. Like a movie, we travel through “the-rising-to-falling-action” in the ease of ‘Heartbeat’ to the thrill of ‘Summer Love’ and “Fake Mona Lisa’ , and creating the balance with the message of “Let’s Sort the Whole Thing Out”, the wholeness of shifting dynamics in a relationship. My personal favorite was ‘Solo’: an anthem for self-love and that odyssey of finding that same feeling of falling in love but in the mundane with only the company of yourself. Too good!
Subjectively, Jepsen’s 2015 Album: Emotion reigns superior as the record had more songs that complimented each other and the narrative felt more coherent: the loss of love and the progression it took to be loving again.
Jepsen admitted that from 2016 to 2019, when she did not release any music, she instead has written over 200 songs (Rolling Stone, 2019). So after a few thoughts, Dedicated Side B may have felt more partitioned as it spans over monuments during that time. Thus, this 12-track beauty was not meant to create a detailed narrative, like Emotion, but one whole bop to show the range of Jepsen’s experiences and artistry. Carly Rae? Correction: Carly slayed.
8.5/10: How many times can this girl fall in love
