Carly Rae Jepsen – The Loveliest TIme

Review Score:

B

The Unprecedented Times –

July 28 / 2023

I love Carly Rae Jepsen B-side season. Jepsen is one of the best, most consistent artists working today, especially in the pop genre. Her artistry is severely underappreciated. And that is just as true of The Loveliest Time as it is of her mainline projects.

Where The Loneliest Time left off, The Loveliest Time picks up. The mood is brighter and the instrumentation more vibrant. Admittedly, I did not love the opening track. I found the first line (which becomes a repeated refrain on the chorus) to be sort of annoying. It was overly clean yet awkward. I do however, like the drums on “Anything to Be With You”. Thankfully, the rest of the album really builds on itself. Track to track, the project displays an array of different sounds and styles. But they all fit neatly under the lovely umbrella.

Carly Rae Jepsen’s pop isn’t overly complex or layered, but never feels shallow. Everything makes sense in the grand context of what Carly Rae Jepsen is and does. The percussive beats are standout across several tracks. The aforementioned “Anything to Be With You” and “Aeroplanes” for example. This album borrows a lot of electronic elements. “Psychedelic Switch” is as close to a Carly Rae Jepsen/Daft Punk collaboration as we’ll ever get. The run from here on out is fantastic. “So Right”, “Come Over”, and “Weekend Love” have some of the catchiest melodies on the album. I appreciated the stranger, more unusual elements on The Loveliest Time. The synthetic undertones on “Put It To Rest” sound like something Evanescence would scream over. But the 80’s keyboard swells are still very true to Carly Rae Jepsen’s roots. “Stadium Love” is confident and boisterous. The range of sounds and styles is fun and makes for an engaging listen.

The Loveliest Time is inconsistent, but that’s ok. It’s a B-sides album with better pop than the majority of artists produce as their main output. I’m convinced Carly Rae Jepsen could pluck any one of these tracks and build a great album around it. As usual, I am excited to see what she does next.

Review Score:

B

Gubb wrote this review. You can’t get mad at Gubb.