“The Loveliest Time” by Carly Rae Jepsen
Another triumph from one of our most prolific pop hitmakers.
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Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s music pick is another triumph from one of the 21st century’s most reliable pop hitmakers.
Genre: Pop, Nu-Disco
Label: Interscope
Release Date: July 28, 2023
Vibe: 💃
Coming on the heels of 2022’s The Loneliest Time, Carly Rae Jepsen’s latest LP is, as you might guess from the title, its predecessor’s thematic counterpoint. Loaded with sparkling pop offerings that interpolate everything from reggae to disco to electro-funk, this is arguably Jepsen’s most polished, confident record to date. Considering that most (if not all) of these songs are leftovers from the Lonliest sessions, there’s a vibrancy at work here that’s so infectious you can’t help but embrace the bop. As she told Rolling Stone, compared to her previous release, “[Loveliest is] more about stepping into the experience of being alive and coming out from that state of hibernation and then loneliness.”
The highs on Loveliest are among 2023’s best pop records. “Kamikaze” and “So Right” are nu-disco stompers of the highest order, while “Psychedelic Switch” bubbles over with the kind of effortless charisma you’d find on a late-90s Cher chart-topper. Lead single “Shy Boy” is also a standout, turning a mid-80s Midnight Star sample into a sexy, breathy bit of R&B&E. The album’s left turns are also fascinating, especially the outsized pop-rock of “Stadium Love,” a track that recalls the soaring structure and unexpected guitar solo work of Lady Gaga’s “Yoü and I.” In the years since she struck gold with “Call Me Maybe,” Jepsen has quietly proven herself to be one of the universe’s most prolific pop songwriters. While this new LP may not reach the heights of 2015’s near-perfect EMOTION, it more than earns its place among the must-hear pop records of this year and possibly the decade.
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