Carly Rae Jepsen’s fourth album,Dedicatedis finally here! For the past few months, CRJ has been trying to build up the hype, first by releasing “Party for One” in November 2018, then releasing both “No Drug Like Me” and “Now That I Found You” in February 2019. Finally, she announced a release date, a new tour, and another single, “Julien”, before releasing the full album on Friday.

As far as building hype goes, I’m not sure revealing a quarter of your album prior to its release is the best way to go. In November, I was already hungry for the album after hearing “Party for One”, so even just one more single would have been enough to sustain the desire. In fact, releasing so many singles might have detracted from making the actual release an “event”. It’s like when you sample ice cream flavours and end up getting too full to buy a cone.

当“没有像我这样的毒品”和“现在我找到你”时,我推测卡莉的新专辑had a story going through it, à laLemonadeDedicatedis less of a story and more of a random collection of relationship moments and heartbreak. To her credit, CRJ covers all territories. There’s a sexy side, like if you have a friend with benefits (“Feels Right”), or you’re just trying to f-ck (“Want You In My Room”). At the same time, there’s also an emotional and self-reflective side. If you’re in love but not in the right headspace, there’s “Happy Not Knowing.” Or, if you feel like you might be coming on too strong, try listening to “Too Much”. Once I stopped looking for a narrative thread through all the songs, I started to enjoy the “stream of consciousness” feel of the tracks as they navigated the complex soup of emotions that is falling in love. If this album was out a year earlier, maybe Charlize Theron would have beenmore prepared forLong Shot

WhileDedicatedhas some cool musical moments and a catchy, overall pop synth sound, it still lags behind the genius ofEmotion。Carly’s reign as Pop Queen comes from her ability to capture emotion and feeling in her songs, even if the lyrics themselves aren’t that deep. It’s what makes her music so widely appealing. I’d say only about half of the songs on this album manage to live up to this reputation. The tracks that do standout are the ones where Carly successfully transports us into the situations she’s singing about. My favourite is “I’ll Be Your Girl” because it’s musically the most interesting and a powerful and honest portrayal of jealousy. We’ve all been that person 52 weeks deep in your crush’s friend’s brother’s Instagram looking for some evidence. No? Just me? Alright then.


The problem,作为Pitchfork对专辑的评论, might come from Carly’s vision for the album. From Pitchfork:

“By her own description, the album began under the working title of “Music to Clean Your House To,” a characteristically unassuming goal. The windshield-wiper synths that open “Julien” or the casual autopilot of “Automatically in Love” point to Jepsen’s other guiding aesthetic: “chill disco,” a mood that vaunts sparkling melodies over writing that can feel short on intrigue.

It's catchy and light but sacrifices some needed depth as a result.

Dedicatedis almost entirely focused on love (including self-love) which means we need a Love Life Update. Carly Rae Jepsen has been with boyfriend James Flannigansince at least February 2018而且他们似乎很坚强。有时我想知道这样的个人专辑如何影响关系动态。如果詹姆斯和CRJ引起争执,他可以敲打歌曲歌词吗?CRJ的前男友是David Kalani Larkins,他指挥“与我逃跑”。他们仍然一起工作,正如他的促销职位所证明的那样for her album release on Friday。其中一些歌曲可能受到他的启发 - 您认为他知道吗?也许有一天,她会拉动一个Ariana和Namecheck。

全面的,Dedicatedis a light, enjoyable listen with several bops to choose from, for a range of occasions. I’m definitely going to be dancing in the kitchen, car, and anywhere else when one of these songs comes on, but when sh-t hits the fan and I need some deep comfort, I’ll probably stick toEmotion.