Ever since Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen made her international pop debut with the viral hit “Call Me Maybe” about 15 years ago, she has spent most of her career carving out her own pop niche outside the mainstream. For the most part, it has been successful for her.
While her beloved third studio album Emotion wasn’t initially a commercial success, it took on a life of its own in both the indie music and underground club scenes as an emblem for the queer community. We’ve been her biggest supporters since then, during which Jepsen has honed her skills as a pop music chameleon, often releasing full-length albums back to back because she produces so much material in the studio that won’t fit on a single LP.
With her latest studio effort, Day and Night, Jepsen seems to have found a way around waterlogging her fans’ music libraries by finally trying her hand at the double-album concept. With Day as the first volume and Night as the second, it’s easy to classify the singer’s new music as soft and hard, light and dark or, quite literally, day and night. What makes the record sonically interesting is its ability to always exist somewhere between those two extremes.
In “After All”, the second single released from Day and Night, Jepsen puts herself in the figurative and literal driver’s seat by taking control of who she is and what she wants: “I want to be the owner / I want to buy you flowers / Why don’t you take your shirt off for me now? / I want to take your photograph like that.” While we might be used to the singer taking charge in such a way over 1980s-influenced synthpop that makes even an open-minded heterosexual want to lose themselves on the dancefloor, Day and Night’s first set is remarkably slow-paced for a singer who usually wants to make the most of the night. Its lyrics, however, are some of Jepsen’s best work to date.
A significant highlight of Day is “Burning Heart”, a classic Jepsen offering that works both as a work-from-home soundtrack or something to blare over the car speakers at the end of a long day: “We could roll those windows down, and we’ll drive away, yeah / I’ll bet it all on you, baby / It’s a miracle, here I go writing your name again, yeah / I wanna end with you.”
By the time we reach the Night portion of the LP, the listener can’t help but relax enough to take in the dance-oriented version of the singer most of her fanbase has come to love. Night‘s best song is inarguably “Don’t Leave Me on the Dancefloor”, the third single and quintessentially the most Carly Rae Jepsen song to ever exist: “Let’s forget who’s right for the night, for a lifetime / Say you’ll never let me go.”
On the surface, Day and Night isn’t necessarily boundary-pushing, nor is it a forgettable dance album chasing the latest EDM beats. What makes the record succeed, and stand out in Jepsen’s discography, is the confidence and strength that shines through the music. Since her last studio album, The Loneliest Time (or its companion piece The Loveliest Time, depending on who you ask), Jepsen has gotten married and had a child, both of which occurred during production of Day and Night.
She’s gearing up to make her Broadway debut by writing the music and lyrics for an upcoming stage adaptation of 10 Things I Hate About You. As Carly Rae Jepsen matures into her established adulthood, her music has unsurprisingly done the same, allowing for a more complete portrait of the artist, both personally and professionally.