Artist: Carly Rae Jepsen
Album: E•MO•TION
Genre: Pop

We live in a very saturated world. One filled with the over-commercialization of art, trends, clothing, technology, everything. When something takes off, it soars to a point far beyond want, desire, or demand, but, within this generalization of “needing” too much, there is a romanticism buried beneath the “stuff” imposed on us, living within simplistic, exaggerated, fun.

I speak of this with direct correlation to Carly Rae Jepsen‘s third album, and total banger, E•MO•TION. Pop usually isn’t my cup of tea, and I am surely put off by the half-assed, overproduced, filler of songs that I hear on the radio, but as mentioned before, there is romance to be found in full-assed, overproduced pure fun drowned in pop.

With E•MO•TION Jepsen drops much of the gimmicky sound of her earlier work and returns with a collected piece that is stylistically and musically coherent, one which presents an actual full-fledged album stacked with pop songs that release to the listener with care and devotion. Layered with textures of sounds that illuminate the tracks with bright synths and Jepsen’s infectious melodies, E•MO•TION is an album stacked with pure, exaggerated hopeless love dripping with pop sensibilities.

Beginning with the reinventing “Run Away With Me,” E•MO•TION starts off fresh, running away from what Jepsen left behind in her earlier output. To truly enjoy E•MO•TION one must, as said before, find the romanticism buried beneath, to find that enjoyment out of something over-saturated, but done with care, and a full grasp of what is setting itself out to be. E•MO•TION is a pure pop record. Synths run all over the opening chorus of the album, covered with cheesy lyricism and melodies that will be stuck in your head for days after listening; this massive, produced-to-oblivion pop ride is all about letting go to have fun.

Aside from finding the love of letting go–and enjoying for the sake of enjoying–something E•MO•TION really strives at is presenting a consistency in quality throughout the entire piece. Following “Run Away With Me,” the title track “E•MO•TION” steps in, hitting just as hard as before, with Jepsen constantly firing back against walls of sound with soaring melodies that bounce back and forth through the track.

“I Really Like You” may be the most gimmicky of the work, but it’s still, just as before, pure fun. “Gimmie Love” and “All That” slow things down a bit, with “All That” beginning not unlike sounds heard on The Cure’s Disintegration (really).

Following possible hit after hit, with highlights including “Making The Most Of The Night” and “L.A. Hallucinations”–though “L.A Hallucinations” yields some of the cringe-iest lyrics (“Planes I’m hopping / Cards I’m dropping / No shop can fill me up / There’s a little black hole in my golden cup so / You pour and I’ll say stop”)–E•MO•TION still shatters expectations with consistency and style.

Closing with personal favorite “When I Needed You,” though Jepsen’s lyrics continue with juvenile fashion, the sonic palate created remains strong, ending with one of the funnest (if there even is just one) choruses of the record. Featuring As Tall As Lions‘ former singer Dan Nigro on production and writing, E•MO•TION ends in a weird full circle type of way for indie rock fans.

While the lyricism leaves a little to be desired, Jepsen and company have created a powerhouse of a pop record that reminds listeners of the lust found when something is done with care, even that something can be denoted as a part of an overcrowded room. Jepsen stands feet taller than all those in said room, for her care and consistency shine through on E•MO•TION. With a designed style and execution, E•MO•TION is not just one of the year’s best pop records, it can easily stand as one of the year’s best in any genre thus far. Now, lose whatever pride you think you have, blast this record, and have some fucking fun.

SCORE: 8.5/10

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Drew Caruso

Drew Caruso is a Bostonian who, when not writing about music and film, spends his time getting lost in New England, reading books, talking about science whether people want to listen or not, and more. To see the thoughts of a scientist by day and a writer by night, follow him on Twitter.

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