E·MO·TION, Carly Rae Jepsen

The fact that most of the world forgot about Carly Rae Jepsen after "Call Me Maybe" faded from the 2012 radio airwaves is truly such a shame. No one quite does fun, lighthearted pop with the same pizzazz as she does, and that's what makes her 2015 album Emotion an achievement in one of the most sonically cohesive bubblegum pop albums I've come across.

Stand-out tracks: "I Really Like You" "LA Hallucinations"

My favorites: "Making the Most of the Night" "Gimmie Love"

The album opens with high-powered, electronic "Run Away With Me" which makes it very clear that Emotion is going to be a dance-pop emotional escape in an album-- nothing too heavy here. Title-track "Emotion" is dreamy and keeps the energy up from the prior track, complete with some fun synth-y production and vocal distortion on the chorus.

Quintessential Carly Rae Jepsen shines through on "I Really Like You"-- it's girly and a little simplistic in composition, but outstanding, explosive production and the natural breathiness of Carly's voice make it incredibly obvious why this song was picked as the follow-up lead single after "Call Me Maybe." The tone turns a little sultrier with "Gimmie Love"-- with a bass-heavy chorus and the clever back and forth of "'cause I want what I want, do you think that I want too much?" and "'cause I want what I want, boy you, it's what I need" this one is a makes for a nice change of pace.

Things slow down a little for "All That," but Carly Rae finally gets a chance to show off some vocal talent on this one. The production is just fun and romantic enough to keep this one from falling through the cracks. If you're not into bubblegum, "Boy Problems" would likely be a skip for you because this one has both a repetitive "na na na" hook and lyrics like "I think I broke up with my boyfriend today/and I don't really care"-- personally I find it an amusing filler that plays well with the rest of the album.

"Making the Most of the Night" is everything a person could hope for in a dance-pop song-- a repetitive chorus, boppy beat, and production bursting out the seams. The next run of tracks has such distinctly supple production that each one stands strong alone-- the vibes of "LA Hallucinations" perfectly capture what I can imagine is the feeling of electricity of being caught up in the dizziness of fame and "Warm Blood" reverberates through your bloodstream exactly like the sensation of catching feelings might.

The lowest point of Emotion is probably "Black Heart"-- it's not bad, but there's really nothing interesting about this song from the production, vocals, lyrics-- all of it is just very mediocre compared to the production-perfection and conceptual fun of the rest of the album. "I Didn't Just Come Here to Dance" is simple but clever; it's the most "club-y" track on the album both in production and lyricism. The album ends on a positive note with "Favourite Colour"-- this one keeps up the strong mesh of vocals and instrumental production we've heard across the entirety of Emotion.

You wouldn't want to dive too terribly deep into the lyricism on Emotion, but in terms of the coupling of Carly Rae Jepsens' breathy-yet-confident vocals and star-powered production-- Emotion is a studio-perfect pop triumph.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: KINDA OBSESSED

21, Adele

Adele's 21 is one of those albums that it seemed like every single person alive was listening to on repeat when it was released-- to say that this album took the world by storm honestly feels like an understatement. While singles like "Rolling in the Deep" may have ended up becoming a little overplayed on the radio, 21 as a complete work absolutely justifies the popularity it garnered when it was released and for years after. It's one of those albums I consider to be a modern-day classic.

Stand-out tracks: "Turning Tables" "Someone Like You"

My favorites: "Set Fire to The Rain" "Lovesong"

Opening the album with "Rolling in the Deep" sets the tone for all the good things to come on 21-- from soaring, raspy vocals to jazzy-pop instrumentals unique only to Adele. While Adele is probably more known for heartwrenching ballads, she does sassy pop-rock like "Rumour Has It" equally well, if not better. The standout moments of this song are definitely the pared-back bridge and the clever ending where the previously repeated "rumour has it I'm the one you're leaving her for" turns into the confessional of "rumour has it he's the one I'm leaving you for."

Over her now-four album discography, "Turning Tables" might be the singular best song that Adele has ever released. Vocally Adele is unstoppable, lyrically it's soul-crushing, and instrumentally this song is absolutely stunning. "Set Fire to the Rain" is one of my personal favorite Adele songs-- it's incredibly passionate and cinematic in composition and performance, and the soft-yet-majestic combination of drums, violins, electric guitar, and Adele's voice makes for quite simply a near-perfect song.

The next several tracks of 21 are not necessarily considered the big hits of the album, but they each have their own charm. The jazzy piano and guitar of "He Won't Go" when coupled with Adele's lower tones and syncopated rhythms makes for an underrated gem that would fit right in at a smoky, candle-lit jazz club performance. "Take It All" is pared back to a piano, a background choir, and Adele at her most raspy and powerful, ultimately telling her lover "don't look back at this crumbling fool/just take it all with my love." While songs like "Turning Tables" and her debut album's "Chasing Pavements" are generally considered to be among the saddest of her discography, "Take It All" might have my vote.

The one song on 21 that I feel is a little less than perfect is probably "One and Only." It drags on for a whopping 5 minutes and 48 seconds, and the bridge is nothing more than the very repetitive "I know it ain't easy/giving up your heart." It's certainly not bad, but when the rest of the album is just that good, this one sticks out as the low point for me. "Lovesong" might be the single most overlooked on this album, but every single time I listen to it I find some new detail about it to appreciate. The finger-plucked guitars (yes, guitars plural-- listen through headphones for a gorgeous experience) and Sting-esque drums coupled with some of the most romantic lyrics Adele has makes for just a really naturally beautiful love song.

Closing out 21 with"Someone Like You"is absolutely quintessential Adele-- a stunningly beautiful, heartbreaking power piano ballad. Ending the album with "don't forget me, I beg/I'll remember, you said/sometimes it lasts in love/but sometimes it hurts instead" paints another painfully human moment to be something genuinely beautiful in a way only Adele can.

From its shelf-load of GRAMMYs to its millions upon millions of copies sold, the raw, emotional, soulful work of art that is Adele's 21 is one album that I can guarantee will eternally be known as a masterpiece.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED

The Good Witch, Maisie Peters

I honestly couldn't tell you how I first heard of Maisie Peters, but between her opening for Ed Sheeran's current tour and a period of time where rumors were floating around of her opening some of the European dates of the Eras tour, I felt like listening to her sophomore album within a couple days of it's release would be fun. And that's exactly what I got with The Good Witch-- a really really fun album to listen to.

Stand-out tracks: "Coming of Age" "Lost the Breakup"

My favorites: "The Band and I" "Therapy" "History of Man"

The album opens with the pared-back-turned-boppy title track "The Good Witch," which effectively illustrates every single theme that appears on the rest of the album; toxic relationships, emotional struggles, and good old-fashioned moving on. "Coming of Age" kicks the pop tones of The Good Witch into high gear-- the chanting of "I wish I could have seen it, God!" closes out a rock-solid pop punk song that's almost Avril Lavigne-esque. While the preceding track was very Maisie-moving-on, "Watch" is very Maisie-wishing-she-could-move-on; it carries on the poppy sound with a little more heartbreak sprinkled on top of her pop punk.

"Body Better" was one of the pre-releases from The Good Witch and between its cruising chorus that seems like it pairs beautifully with a drive along a coast in the summer and the clever back and forth of "I can't help thinking that she's got a better body/has she got a better body than mine?", it makes all the sense in the world why this song would have been picked as a single. "Want You Back" is the first piano ballad of the album, and honestly I feel like the natural poppiness of Maisie's voice, the backing instrumentals that are added to the production beyond the piano, and the simplistic lyricism makes this one of the tracks that I'll likely skip when I come back to The Good Witch. "The Band and I" is incredibly refreshing-- ultimately, this is what you'd get if you cracked open the diary of a touring musician and read all the little anecdotes of life on tour. If there ever comes a day when there's a coming-of-age movie about a young band in the 2020s, this song was meant to be on the soundtrack.

"Lost the Breakup" is one of the other pre-releases from The Good Witch and it absolutely deserves to be arguably the biggest hit Maisie Peters has had. A chorus that's composed of lines like "I know I'm obsessed, and/right now, I might be a mess, but/one day, you're gonna wake up/and, oh, shit! you lost the breakup" backed with a fun synthy instrumental deserves hype almost to the level of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe." "Wendy" is one of the other slower-paced songs on this album, but the poppier instrumental turns it up a notch. It's a little unoriginal in the comparison of a boy not growing up to Peter Pan that we've heard in a dozen other breakup songs, but it's better than the other ballads on this album like "Want You Back" and "Two Weeks Ago." "BSC" is another really fun track and when you listen to this track and find out what the title stands for, it makes it all the more fun. This song might also have the best bridge of the album (how can it not when it starts with "I am unhinged/I am scaling these walls I've gone within").

"Therapy" is the only track on The Good Witch that hasn't been made into a single that I think absolutely needs to be one-- it's one of the more dancy-pop songs on the album and personally, I love a song with clever, sad lyrics and a boppy beat. The next track,"There It Goes," is almost an Act II to "Therapy," illustrating more of the feeling of being happy moving on ("the comedown of closure/the girls and I do yoga/I wake up and it's October/the loss is yours") rather than the "but now you're gone honey I can't sleep/I'm just talking to your memory/I still love you, but you're taking me/from your arms/back to therapy" of Act I. In terms of quality of lyricism, this album ends on the highest of high notes with "The History of Man." I could describe this one, but I would never do all its complexities justice, so just go listen to it and thank me later.

Ultimately, I feel like cutting a few tracks off this album would have overall made it a little stronger as a complete project. But, the songs on The Good Witch that are great? They're really, really, really great.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: KINDA OBSESSED