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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?
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