San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Shying away from stardom
Carly Rae Jepsen got a taste of mainstream success with her viral 2012 hit “Call Me Maybe” and decided it wasn’t for her.
Since then the former “Canadian Idol” star has carved out a far more interesting career path for herself, stepping out of the spotlight to return with more sleek dance-pop tunes that didn’t bother the charts but managed to build her an incredibly loyal cult following.
She dabbled in Broadway, starring in the lead role of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” in 2014, and television, starring as Frenchy in Fox’s “Grease: Live.”
On her fourth studio album, “Dedicated,” the 33-year-old songwriter reveals another layer. The record chronicles the period between Jepsen’s breakup with her longtime boyfriend in 2017 and a new romance that blossomed in its wake. Understated tracks like “Party for One” and “No Drug Like Me” find her straddling agony and joy on an album that started out with 200 demos.
Jepsen is back on the road in support of “Dedicated.” The Chronicle caught up with her during tour rehearsals in Los Angeles.
Q: You performed a pretty memorable set at the Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park last year. Is it a completely different stage show for this tour?
A: In a lot of ways it is. We’re in the middle of rehearsing properly for the U.S. tour, and we’re getting into the thick of all the songs I’ve been waiting to share from “Dedicated.” It’s the most fun I’ve ever had. It feels like every time I show up we have a new idea. We really want to go for it this time. It feels
like this is the tour I’ve been waiting to deliver my whole life. I can’t wait.
Q: The beauty is you no longer have to sell anyone on what you do. Your fans are 100% on board for wherever you want to take them. A: It does feel like our fan base is very accepting and very, very full of life and love and joy. They want to have a great time. That celebratory mood doesn’t stop at the audience. It does affect my confidence and excitement for going out there.
I remember one of the first shows I experienced that was in New York: We were playing Terminal 5 for the first time, and I was so nervous. I was about to walk out onstage and I thought, like, “What happens if I fall?” Sometimes you just get nerves out of the blue, even when you’ve done this for a long time. That was one those nights. But I heard them chanting and getting excited and I just felt like after the first song that even if I did slip and fall, everyone would be on my side.
Q: Do you prefer this level of fame to what you had with “Call Me Maybe,” with the paparazzi chasing you and everything?
A: I had it, but I hid away from it. I was living in Woodland Hills (Los Angeles County), which is a pretty hidden spot compared to downtown Hollywood. But, yeah, I
naturally shied away from it. It was taking over too much of my life for my comfort, I guess.
Q: You wrote more than 200 tracks before settling on the 15 that appear on “Dedicated.” How do you figure out a way to make the songs about the breakup sit together with the ones about falling in love again?
A: It was a hard struggle for me. It was a long process. It wasn’t as simple as, like, having one listening party with friends and then being, “This is it!” I thought about it late at night when I should have been sleeping. I really listened a lot when I was with people who would take the time to give me their ears about it.
I think at the end of the day I wanted to select songs that felt really authentic to what I had been experiencing. At the same time, something that’s really an important thing to me is making music that’s not just purely journal entries with all these details that make no sense to anyone, but something that they can connect with. That’s the biggest high for me, when people say a song means something to them.
Q: Do you dread revisiting the breakup songs when you play live?
A: I got a little emotional yesterday during rehearsals singing a couple of them. Not in a way where anyone would have noticed, but I could definitely feel that, “Oh, God, what have I done? I have to sing this every night!” I have got to find a way to make the painful part beautiful, otherwise
it could kill me. If you’re going to be honest, it’s going to be real. Sometimes it’s going to hurt and sometimes it’s going to feel like a new beginning is on the horizon. If the songs weren’t such a personal part of my journey, it would be really hard to connect with them when you sing them for the 46th time. I think it has to be from a sincere place. Otherwise you kind of get lost into the machine mode of it.
Q: You wrap them up in such shiny packages it’s hard to even know they’re about heartbreak.
A: I had a phrase: “Cry glitter on the dance floor.” I kept coming back to that even though it never actually worked its way to a particular song. That was maybe a little poetic mission statement.
Q: What does the phrase mean to you?
A: Well, I think that what I love about music is that it’s therapeutic for me. The artists I listen to are much more melancholy in nature. I listen to quite opposite taste wise to the music I make. Any time that someone makes pain poetic and beautiful, it helps you survive it a little bit better. It helps you see the poetry behind it.
I think without really analyzing my style too much it’s a bit of my intention. I do try to soften the edges a bit with maybe the production, especially if I’m experiencing something a little more melancholy or depressing.
Q: After making such a personal album, why did you put a picture
of your bare back on the cover?
A: There was a guttural instinct when I saw the image. I tried a couple different setups, and I had a couple different thoughts in mind for looks that could represent the album well. When I saw that image I was like, “That’s the
album!” I really enjoyed the freedom of it not being too much like the pop albums I had done in the past where it’s just like a glossed-up picture of your face and that being too much of the selling point, especially for something that was just marking the work I put into this.
Also, on an artistic level I love the juxtaposition of the word “Dedicated”
and turning your back on someone and still feeling exposed. I think an album isn’t just a pure like, “I’m in love, I’ve worked it out and dedicated to you no matter what!” It’s a wrestling match with the word. I think the album shows that confusion a little bit as I explore it. That’s sort of why I liked it. It wasn’t a full-on look of love straight in the eyes, but a bit of coyness and party pants the whole way through.
Q: You’re donating $1 from every ticket sold on this tour to the Trevor Project, which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ youth. How did you find that cause?
A: There’s so many great
things to lend your attention to. As for this particular one, it made sense. It’s in San Francisco, a place we’ve gone back for different Pride events. I feel like most all of the LGBTQ youth really need our help and support. There’s so many who are kicked out of their homes who are lost and needing guidance in any way possible, or helpline services that let
them know they’re not alone. So much of the community that comes to our shows needs to know that they have our support and more than just words, but with action like this.
Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop music critic. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF