Review: Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loneliest Time
Carly Rae Jepsen
The Loneliest Time
Jepsen at her most grounded and self-reflective.
★★★★
Whilst her previous records have touched on decades past, The Loneliest Time finds Carly Rae Jepsen rooted in the present
The Loneliest Time finds Carly Rae Jepsen at an interesting point in her career. 2015’s ‘EMOTION’ is long heralded as a decade-defining pop masterpiece, one that blended the synth soundscape of the eighties with Jepsen’s ear for an incredible modern pop hook. 2019s ‘Dedicated’ felt like a natural continuation of that sound, moving the dial forward whilst still being rooted in the instrumentals and aura of the past, feeling evocative of 00s era Minogue, Imbruglia and Ellis-Bextor.
It would have been unsurprising and perhaps even the easy route to once again dive into the most heralded era of her career, however, with The Loneliest Time, Jepsen takes an interesting risk. The record feels made for the here and now, it feels mature and tailor-made for 2022. The opener 'Surrender My Heart’ is Jepsen in her prime, a brilliant hook, a display of her understated vocal range, accompanied by heavenly synths.
It's also an indication of the tone of the record, the majority of which flies in at sub 3 minutes. That’s not to say these small slices of pop are lacking in depth, there’s a lot packed into each single, ‘Joshua Tree’ is reminiscent of the type of acoustic-fuelled boyband pop that’s found itself so successfully implanted into the charts, yet has so much substance and flavour when filtered through Jepsen’s pen. ‘Talking to Myself’ meanwhile is high velocity, Jepsen is a driving force that has managed to merge glam rock guitar riffs with power balladry and packaged it ready for the club dancefloor.
Beach House is undoubtedly the best pop single of the year. It’s brave, bold and intuitive in both its production and lyrics. Each verse introduces you to a different brand of boy that will be far too relatable to anyone that’s indulged in digital dating. False promises, infidelity and dare we say organ harvesting is on the agenda. It’s delightfully dark and a showcase of Jepsen at her finest.
Speaking of at her finest, there are some intriguing pop gems nestled within the record, ‘Bad Thing Twice’ once again throws Jepsen back into that early Minogue brand of softly spoken whispering pop that surprisingly suits her so well. The title track, a duet with Rufus Wainwright feels both musical theatre and lounge bar karaoke in nature. Not in a critical manner, however, it’s the best type of cheesy romantic pairing, think ‘Islands in the Stream’ as the pair blends disco funk with a retro love ballad.
There are admittedly a few missteps, even through the lens of the full album, ‘Western Wind’ feels like it drifts far too much from the overall record sound, like a lost Spice Girls deep cut it fails to strike a chord. Likewise country styled ballad ‘Go Find Yourself or Whatever’ does little to justify its near five-minute runtime. Jepsen is at her strongest when she’s punchiest with her delivery and tempo. However, Jepsen’s desire to keep evolving and moving her sound is delightfully refreshing in a genre fascinated with recreating its biggest hits.
Known for her penchant for accompanying B Side records in recent years, with ‘The Loneliest Time’ it feels nothing has been left on the drawing board, coming in at nearly an hour with all the various bonus tracks and extras, this feels like one firm statement from Jepsen. Whilst it may lack the instant sugary rush satisfaction of her previous records if you keep coming back and let the album sit for a while, it’s pure pop supremacy once again from Jepsen.