REVIEW: Carly Rae Jepsen’s “The Loneliest Time” (2022)
Written by Diego Cotte on November 8, 2022
This October was a big month for new music releases. Carly Rae Jepsen’s The Loneliest Time is one of the most notable albums. Jepsen’s sixth studio album is not only one of Jepsen’s best, but the best pop album of the year.
The album takes visual inspiration from folk or western aesthetics, but is still pop. Best known for “Call Me Maybe” and “I Really Like You”, Jepsen has always been known as a pop artist. Her roots still show in the new album, but also more dancey than her previous albums.
I saw a comment about the album saying that the best songs from the album are the singles (“Beach House”, “Western Winds”, and “The Loneliest Time”). These songs are definitely notable, but to say they are the only ones is dismissing some of the great songs that Jepsen and her collaborators wrote and produced.
“Sideways” is one of the most catchy songs on the album and one of my favorites. There is something about the line “I get all my confidence from you” that is so real, I just cannot get it out of my head.
Another song that stands out is “Go Find Yourself or Whatever”. This song comes just before the album’s closer and is the most heartfelt, intimate song of the album. It is quite raw and shows a side of Jepsen’s songwriting that we have not seen a lot of. Jepsen opens up about the experience of losing a person and the feeling of not being wanted after giving that person so much of yourself. There is a specific kind of pain that comes from being hurt after taking the time to open up to someone and be vulnerable. Jepsen gets that experience exactly right.
Something the album really excels at is the composition of the album in terms of song placement. One might think that placing the most intimate song just before the album’s most upbeat is a bad idea, but it actually works in the album’s favor. As soon as “Go Find Yourself or Whatever” ends, the titular song comes on and provides a sort of happy ending to the album. The song, which was a collaboration with Rufus Wainwright, is heavily disco-inspired and is sure to be another hit attributed to the iconic Carly Rae Jepsen.
