It’s 2022 and Canadian pop royalty Carly Rae Jepsen is still doing what she’s always done best: cracking her heart open like an egg and bearing all of its contents for everyone to listen and linger on. Her newest album, “The Loneliest Time,” is the next chapter of her musical diary, taking on sharper edges as she muses upon love and loss with synths like softened blades.
Jepsen is one of the most iconic pop artists of the 2010s. Her infectious bubblegum-pop sound entered everyone’s hearts through a host of Billboard Hot 100 hits during the earlier part of the decade. The youthful lyrics of her 2011 breakout hit “Call Me Maybe” were a staple of every elementary school talent show. Her 2012 collaboration with Owl City, “Good Time,” was the default music of any lifestyle/beauty YouTuber’s “Get Ready with Me!” montage. “I Really Like You” was the anthem of any middle schooler tormented by a crush, and the viral Vine of a seal twirling with a toy saxophone scored to the soaring intro of “Run Away With Me” practically has its own display room in the metaphorical meme hall of fame.
After releasing “Emotion” in 2015 and “Emotion Side B” in 2016, she spent three years developing her sound. Though 80’s influence traces “Emotion,” Jepsen really dives into the deep end with her 2019 album “Dedicated,” carrying a strong 70s and 80s pop influence inspired by ABBA, the Bee Gees and Donna Summer.
It’s hard to compare albums by the same artist, as you have to consider that each was colored by the unique set of resources and circumstances at the time. But when listening to “The Loneliest Time,” it’s difficult to not think of “Dedicated” as an album released for plot development as she exits the realm of pop princess and ascends into the legion of pop royalty.
According to Jepsen herself, “The Loneliest Time” is a pandemic album, written during the long months of pre-vaccine self-isolation in 2020. Though the music has Jepsen’s distinctly upbeat tone, it feels like the rose-colored lens has been removed, or at least replaced with a more grounded, earthy tone. The practical filter carries a certainty that only comes about after months of self-isolated reflection.
Though she began her attempts at conveying it in “Dedicated,” Jepsen takes the idea of loneliness and weaves it together with her experiences alone on the road and isolated in Los Angeles with no company other than her cat to create a masterpiece. As the very first track, the shimmering “Surrender My Heart” doubles as a letter to the listener and a lover. It’s a declaration of her intentions; she sings, “I wanna be brave enough to show you my not-so-perfect family / And I wanna be brave enough for everything.”
Jepsen really surrenders her heart on this album with confessional lyrics that tackle the complex emotions that follow the end of a relationship. In an interview with Vogue, Jepsen said, “I wasn’t really in a place of, ‘What’s gonna follow up Dedicated,’ but, ‘What do I do with these feelings I don’t wanna have?’”
In many tracks on ‘The Loneliest Time,’ she seems to be trying to banish her longing for a past lover. On the upbeat “Talking to Yourself,” she asks “Do you talk to me / When you’re talking to yourself?” On the somber, “Go Find Yourself or Whatever,” she croons, “Maybe when my heart’s done breakin’ / Then I could forgive what you’ve tried.”
Jepsen explores more irrational emotions as well — feelings that are less justifiable but certainly more human. On the bouncy “Beach House,” Jepsen satirizes the world of dating apps — something she turned to during a low point in the pandemic — declaring, “Boys around the world, I want to believe that / When you chase a girl, it’s not just hunting season,” only to be interrupted by a male voice saying, “I got a beach house in Malibu / And I’m probably gonna hurt your feelings.” The amount of shallow men expands in the bridge with each offering something worse than the last, with the final boss pitching, “a lake house in Canada / And I’m probably gonna harvest your organs.”
Heartbreak isn’t just a byproduct of failed romance, though. Jepsen’s loneliness twists into something much more melancholy on “Bends” and “Western Wind.” Jepsen recently shared that during the pandemic, her grandmother passed away. Trapped in her home in Los Angeles, Jepsen was unable to cross the Canadian border in order to be with her family and mourn. The stunning lyrics and stagnant synths of “Bends” capture the immovability of grief while Jepsen sings, “After all the clouds have dried / Here’s a jar of tears I cried.” Vampire Weekend’s Rostam joins her on “Western Wind,” providing earthy drums to ground the ethereal track. The song feels like a memory, as Jepsen asks, “Coming in like a western wind / Do you feel home in all directions?”
‘The Loneliest Time’ is music for a solo road trip; it’s the sort of thing that you throw on during a long drive back home, hours spent rattling along characterless California plains. Jepsen picks up human loneliness and twists and turns it, shining a light on all of its varied sides through clever lyrics and glimmering synths.
Teresa Pham is an Entertainment Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. She can be reached at teresaap@uci.edu.
