Emotion (10th Anniversary)＜限定盤/Blue Swirl Vinyl＞

Carly Rae Jepsen was nearly a victim of her own success. Her breakthrough single Call Me Maybe wasnt just big -- it was one of 2012s definitive songs, with a presence so massive that it overshadowed just how good Kiss, the album that housed it, was. After taking time to regroup, Jepsen returns with E-MO-TION, another set of songs that are better than the average Top 40 hit. While nothing here is as instantly striking as Call Me Maybe, the album gives the impulsive sweetness of her big hit some perspective. If Kiss was the sound of first love and first heartbreak, then E-MO-TION captures how heady the ups and downs of crushes can be the third or fourth time around. For every head-over-heels declaration like Run Away with Me, theres a song such as I Really Like You, a smaller-scale outburst where Jepsen acknowledges this isnt love. This sophistication extends to the music; where Kiss suggested several potential directions, E-MO-TION presents a more unified front. A-list songwriters and producers including Sia, Devonte Hynes, Ariel Rechtshaid, Shellback, and Greg Kurstin help her focus Kiss effervescence into a cohesive sound that is somehow even more 80s-influenced. The slap bass and crystalline synths on All That turn it into a seemingly long-lost slow jam, while Rechtshaids unabashedly glossy production on When I Needed You reflects how big an impact his work with HAIM had on the 2010s pop landscape. Jepsen gets more adventurous on the albums second half, teaming with Sia to bring newfound drama to Making the Most of the Night and with Rostam Batmanglij and Tegan and Sara on Warm Blood, one of E-MO-TIONs most contemporary-sounding tracks. Jepsen said she drew inspiration for the album from Cyndi Lauper and Robyn, both of whom excel at sounding exuberant and yearning at the same time. Like those artists, Jepsen is at her finest when she lets her sparkly facades crumble a little with vulnerable lyrics. The excellent Your Type is so deftly self-deprecating and catchy that it could actually be a Robyn song, while the title track and Boy Problems capture longing and heartache in ways that feel like they were written for everyones inner junior high schooler. An even stronger album than Kiss, E-MO-TIONs equally stylish and earnest songs helped establish Jepsen as one of the most consistently winning pop artists of the 2010s.~ Heather Phares

等身大のラヴソング"Call Me Maybe"と、アウル・シティと共演した人生謳歌ソング"Good Time"の2曲で、世界中の心を掴んだカーリー・レイ・ジェプセンが3年ぶりにアルバムを完成。実はシンディ・ローパーの大ファンで、80sポップスのサウンドやエレメンツ、エモーションが大好きだという彼女、2013年の〈サマソニ〉でシンディのステージを観て今回の新作の方向性を決めたとか。ゆえにキラキラに弾けたポップ・チューンのオンパレード! とはいえ、口うるさい批評家筋からも絶賛されている"All That"が、往年のプリンスっぽい凝ったおもしろさを湛えているように、キーボードを多用したサウンドはただキャッチーで明るいだけじゃない。しかも全曲ラヴソングって、突き抜けてるわ!
bounce (C)和田靜香