The Daily Spin, October 11
Carly Rae Jepsen | Dedicated
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite songs from each album right here.
Album: Dedicated (2019)
Artist: Carly Rae Jepsen
Link:
Most obviously, I would say that Dedicated is evidence that at heart, Carly Rae Jepsen is extremely good at what she does. A career that began with the oft-unfairly panned ‘Call Me Maybe’ has evolved into a decade of crafting glorious shimmery pop, romantic from first kiss or first sight to last breath and sparkling moments on dance floors the world over.
It’s this whirlwind that she captures beautifully, elation and joy pouring through every single note she sings, each exuberant note a reminder of the wonderful experience that is love - but it tends to wear a little thin over time, a false smile plastered over fractured undertones. Though that sentiment rarely bleeds through too deep in Jepsen’s music, it’s hard not to take it that way at times - it feels a little false, a glimmer too consistent and airy for there not to be something lurking deeper underneath.
Then again - if you don’t look for it, you wouldn’t see anything, and it’s certainly enjoyable to peer into a world where things are all happy and twee, even if only for a short while. Carly Rae’s always had a handle on that.
Rating: 8.4/10
Best Tracks: Feels Right; Want You In My Room
Worst Tracks: Everything He Needs