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coming as close as she ever has to just directly laying out the appeal of her entire approach to pop. Despite its formulaic nature, Jepsen does deliver a few unexpected hits on Side B, notably “Solo,” a call to revel in the freedom of single life that features what is Carly Rae Jepsen returns with an album of tracks you’d never know arguably the strongest chorus of the entire collection. “So what, you’re not in love?” were scraped from the cutting room floor. By Sean Maunier is a sentiment that might seem to run counter to her entire ethos, but it is very ’M BAD AT KEEPING SECRETS,” CARLY RAE JEPSEN CONFESSED WHEN Carly Rae Jepsen to celebrate love in all its dropping Dedicated Side B after weeks of swirling rumors. She has a point. All that forms, even its absence. Jepsen may be a famously prolific speculation around this release was far from unwarranted, seeing as this isn’t even the first time Jepsen has put forth a series of outtakes one year after the main album. songwriter, but that she had such a stellar Following the runaway success of Emotion Side B, it stands to reason that she would collection of tracks left over from her last repeat that success. And considering that it was released almost exactly a year after album is a sign of more than an ability to write songs in bulk and then curate a few Dedicated, this is a surprise release only on a technicality. However, that should dampen none of the enthusiasm for this series of outtakes standouts. With Dedicated Side B, Jepsen from her last album. True to her brand, the songs feel like exactly the shot of joyous once again proves what we had already pop escapism that a scared, anxious world needs right now. While Dedicated Side B seen on Emotion Side B, that her power (HHHHH) does not reach the shockingly good heights of Emotion Side B, it more than as an artist is in her ability to start with holds up next to Dedicated. Though it does raise the question of why some of its songs simple, universal feelings and experiences and build glorious earworms never made the cut for Side A. Click to Watch around them with unforGiven that it is a collection of outtakes, it should be no surprise that for the most part, these songs find her in the same “This Love Isn’t Crazy” gettably catchy hooks. She brings a visceral, intuitive headspace she was in on Dedicated. This is apparent right from the glitzy, incredibly catchy opener, “This Love Isn’t Crazy,” a collaboration with understanding of relationships at their Jack Antonoff that is strong in all the ways we would expect from Jepsen. She indulges beginnings, endings, and all the grey areas in joyful, occasionally wistful or nostalgic, but always clear-headed musings on love in between, along with a relentlessly, stuband relationships. “I don’t know how to swim, but let’s breathe underwater,” she sings bornly celebratory attitude to love that is on “Fake Mona Lisa,” an ode to impulsively, and perhaps recklessly, giving in to love, impossible to resist.
Beside Herself
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Dedicated Side B is available for purchase on www.carlyraemusic.com and for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music. 46
MAY 28, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM
