Carly’s comin’ back for us, baby

Carly Rae Jepsen’s sixth album continues exploring pop

Fair use from Genius

Fair use from Genius

Sarah Peterson

As a veteran in the music industry, Carly Rae Jepsen has no problem with making hit after hit. The Canadian has been in the game for a while and shows no signs of stopping soon. Her newest album, “The Loneliest Time,” is a classic bubblegum pop record with heartfelt lyrics about breakups and loneliness. 10 years after “Call Me Maybe,” Jepsen proves that she can still redefine the pop music of our generation.

The album opens beautifully with “Surrender My Heart,” a hopeful track about revealing her true self in a current relationship. This concept pops up often throughout the album other songs like “Talking to Yourself,” and “Far Away,” express trying to get lost in the moment and forget about the past. She sings “your face is calmin’ me down, maybe I’ll just stop thinkin’.”

A standout on the record was “Beach House,” an honest track of the reality of modern dating. She uses the contrasting perspectives of women trying to date against the harsh truth of men’s intentions. There’s an echo of the male vocalists singing after her in the chorus, emphasizing her point. The song starts off with the promises they’re making, and later reveals what the truth is. “I’ve got a beach house in Miami and I’m probably gonna hurt your feelings,” they sing deceitfully. 

While Jepsen’s voice and the music aren’t incredibly unique, the deep emotion and catchy hooks are what keep producing some pop bangers. This is exemplified by “The Loneliest Time,” the album’s title track. You may have heard the bubbly bridge before on TikTok, Jepsen’s happy voice singing “But you know what? I’m coming back for you, baby, I’m coming back for you!” The bridge is undoubtedly the best part of the song, with the rest of it being pretty bland with a male feature of Rufus Wainwright that should’ve been left out. 

Some of the album was forgettable, like a random country song that appeared in the middle, “Go Find Yourself or Whatever.” While some of the other bubbly pop songs were alright, like “So Nice” and “Shooting Star.”, I kept wishing for more. It felt like there were so many songs that were under three minutes that I was just starting to get into them when they ended. The exceptional songs on the record outshone the rest, differentiating the skips from the non-skips. 

Overall, this album is certainly worth listening to. While there was mediocrity here and there, some tracks shined bright on this cheery record. As pop music evolves, Jepsen finds a way to bring her sound with it and create something worth listening to. She still gets people up and dancing nearly 15 years after arriving on the music scene, which is something powerful that not many musicians manage to do. 

‘The Loneliest Time:’ ★★★★☆