Carly Rae Jepsen is set to enter a new era with Day And Night, an upcoming album that finds the Canadian pop star exploring two distinct but interconnected sides of her musical personality. The project is framed around the contrast between day and night. The “day” side leans into sun-soaked, left-field pop, while “night” moves towards more forward-thinking dance music with a maximalist edge. Early singles On Wires and After All have already offered a glimpse of the album’s lighter, more adventurous daytime sound, while Motivation and Don’t Leave Me On The Dance Floor point towards its nocturnal, club-oriented side.
Carley Rae Jepsen @ Glastonbury Festival 2023
Together, the tracks suggest an album that is less concerned with fitting neatly into one particular version of pop and more interested in following Jepsen’s instincts wherever they lead. That sense of freedom has become increasingly apparent throughout Jepsen’s career. Over the past 15 years, she has developed from a chart-topping newcomer into one of contemporary pop’s most distinctive and enduring artists, building a catalogue that balances immediate hooks with increasingly adventurous songwriting.
Her international breakthrough came in 2012 with Call Me Maybe. The irresistible single became a global phenomenon, reaching number one in charts across more than 47 countries and earning two GRAMMY® nominations, for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. But while Call Me Maybe established Jepsen as a global pop force, the records that followed demonstrated that there was considerably more to her artistry than one enormous hit.
Released in 2015, E•MO•TION became a defining moment in Jepsen’s career and has since developed into a modern pop landmark. Its sophisticated combination of immaculate production, emotional vulnerability and relentlessly catchy songwriting has earned the album more than one billion streams worldwide and secured its place among the most influential pop records of the 2010s.
Carley Rae Jepsen @ Glastonbury Festival 2023
Jepsen continued to broaden her musical palette with 2019’s Dedicated, an emotionally rich record that further established her ability to explore the complexities of relationships without sacrificing the euphoric qualities that underpin her best pop songs. Then came The Loneliest Time in 2022, released following a period of isolation and offering another evolution in Jepsen’s songwriting. Its arrival demonstrated an artist continuing to embrace experimentation while retaining the melodic instincts that have defined her career.
Alongside her main studio albums, Jepsen has also developed a particularly deep relationship with her fanbase through her B-sides projects. E•MO•TION Side B, Dedicated Side B and The Loveliest Time have each provided further insight into her creative process, offering material that might otherwise have remained outside the traditional album cycle. That willingness to explore beyond the expected has become an integral part of Jepsen’s appeal, and Day And Night appears set to continue that trajectory.
The album’s duality provides a framework for that exploration. On Wires and After All introduce a brighter, more left-field pop sensibility, with the songs representing the sunlit half of the project. On the other side, Motivation and Don’t Leave Me on the Dance Floor push towards the dancefloor, promising a more expansive and experimental sound as the record moves into the night.
Rather than treating the two halves as opposing identities, Day And Night appears designed to capture the full spectrum of Jepsen’s creative world — from the intimacy and immediacy of daytime pop to the heightened, escapist possibilities of the club.
It is a fitting direction for an artist whose career has increasingly been defined by creative independence. Having long since established herself as a major pop presence, Jepsen now approaches each new release with considerably less to prove and considerably more freedom to experiment.
Day And Night promises to be the latest expression of that freedom: an album that embraces melodic pop, left-field ideas and ambitious dance production while continuing Jepsen’s long-running fascination with emotion, connection and the rush of a great song.
Carly Rae Jepsen Really, Really, Really Likes You At Glastonbury 2023
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