Carly Rae finds new freedom
Carly Rae Jepsen knew she would lose fans after the success of “Call Me Maybe” wore off.
This is the natural order of things: “Call Me Maybe,” the Canadian singer-songwriter’s first big song, wasn’t just a monster hit, it was a cultural tsunami, a pitiless earworm that sold over 18 million copies, and went to No. 1 in at least 19 countries. This kind of popularity, she realized, was unsustainable.
But Jepsen didn’t know she would lose so many fans, so quickly. During the song’s late 2012-early 2013 peak, she opened a sold-out arena tour for Justin Bieber, an early backer with whom she has occasionally collaborated. On her own, promoting her followup album, “Emotion,” she played clubs. “It was a severe change,” Jepsen says. “It was actually really shocking to us. I think before, opening for Bieber, you kind of get those sort of fans, and you wonder if they’re yours, or if you’re holding them for a little while.”
“Kiss,” the 2012 release that housed “Call Me Maybe,” was a sugary, tweeny pop album that sold tolerably well. “Emotion,” released last summer, is a grownup pop album with indie inclinations. It has done less well, so far birthing one modest hit (“I Really Like You”). The absence of a “Call Me Maybe” — sized smash is intentional, Jepsen says. “I don’t think there’s too many people who want to keep creating the same music over and over. It was a great time of my life, and it took me on this wild adventure that I never would have imagined for myself, but I didn’t want to be stuck in a place where I was expected to deliver the same thing over and over. Not only would the pressure be high, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I was excited to try a kind of pop that wasn’t purely just pop.”
“Emotion” is synth-heavy and ’80s-skewing, with guest appearances from former Vampire Weekend instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij and Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes.
If “Kiss” was a play for Top 40 stardom, “Emotion” is a hipster outreach program.
Jepsen’s unlikely career trajectory, from 2007 “Canadian Idol” also-ran to pop sensation to cool-kid-beloved Serious Artist, is something she would have found unthinkable 18 months ago.
“It’s been a strange career that I’ve had, but I much prefer the attention that we’ve gotten from this album versus not really being able to go anywhere, the way it was with the last album,” she says. “I feel much more comfortable. When I was at the height (of my fame) with ‘Call Me Maybe,’ it was a little bit too much, almost. This feels better. And also, to be recognized for something that feels more authentically you is the best feeling.”
“Emotion” isn’t a dramatic departure like its predecessor, it’s a pristine, catchy dance-pop album.
But it has hastened the natural weeding-out process that all newly minted stars with one big hit must go through, separating casual fans from Carly Rae Jepsen fans.