Dedicated Side B
Dedicated Side B | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 21, 2020 | |||
Recorded | 2016–2019 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Dance-pop | |||
Length | 43:24 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Carly Rae Jepsen chronology | ||||
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Singles from Dedicated Side B | ||||
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Dedicated Side B is the companion album to Dedicated (2019), the fourth studio album by Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen.[1][2][3][4] It was released on May 21, 2020, by 604 Records in Canada, and Schoolboy and Interscope Records in the United States. The album features 12 outtakes from the original album (14 on the Japanese edition).[5] Musically, it is primarily a dance-pop record with disco influences.[6]
Background
While recording Dedicated, Jepsen confirmed that she had written "nearly 200 songs" for the album.[7] Over the year following the release of Dedicated, speculation grew as to whether Jepsen would release a companion piece to Dedicatd as she had done for her previous album with Emotion: Side B. Though Dedicated Side B was subsequently released with no prior announcement on May 21, 2020, Jepsen teased the album while speaking to Mike Wass from Idolator, stating:
"I feel like I should stop pretending. I have every intention of doing that and releasing a part two, I think that’s the fun with having this much time to record an album. It gives you a little bit of perspective on what should come first and what should come second. It was easier to narrow down the first part because I knew was going to get to share a lot more songs".[8]
While discussing the influences for the tracks in an interview with Paper Magazine's Brendan Wetmore, Jepsen stated that she "wanted the beach-y vibe of Beach Boys, the stoner sort of — where you're following a guy around at the beach and like making love and doing all the things that are very holiday-ish. More allowing ourselves to get as weird as we wanted that day". In a separate question about the retro synths being used heavily in some of Jepsen’s projects, she answered:
"Originally with [Dedicated], I was looking to go into '70s disco, and I think we thought that was "Julien", but the rest of it kind of just led me right back to what I think is my idea of one of the greatest eras of pop music, which is the '80s. It's very heart-on-your-sleeve, and it's very to-the-point and not afraid to really be vulnerable and say the things that you really mean. I'm kind of drawn back to that place and I think the synth sound is still so very '80s, and it allows me to be like, 'I'm going to tell you the deep secrets of my heart, let's go!'".[9]
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.6/10[10] |
Metacritic | 79/100[12] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Consequence of Sound | B–[13] |
Exclaim! | 8/10[14] |
NME | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Our Culture Mag | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 6.9/10[17] |
Slant | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Sputnikmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Tom Hull | B+ (![]() ![]() |
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 79 out of 100 based on seven reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]
Ali Shutler from NME described the album as "easily one of the best pop records of the year so far", and that it "provides a joyous burst of escapism from the miserable everyday, the lockdown ying to the yang of Charli XCX's How I'm Feeling Now. Consistently brilliant, Side B might be a collection of offcuts but this is the sort of record that most acts could only dream of making".[15] Natalia Barr of Consequence of Sound praised "how focused Jepsen’s writing process has been on every emotion and experience love brings", while criticizing how "Songs like the ’80s bass-heavy, ABBA-inspired 'Summer Love' and soft ballad 'Heartbeat' could have been beneficial additions to Dedicated".[21] Stereogum’s Chris DeVille wrote that "track for track [the songs are] at least as good as the original Dedicated offerings, if not better" as they "hang together much more naturally". In addition, DeVille complimented the second half of the album, as "Jepsen plays around with rock sounds on the bass-grooving 'Summer Love' and the frantically upbeat 'Let’s Sort The Whole Thing Out'", and finished off by writing to "those of us who were losing interest in the Carly Rae Jepsen show to tune back in".[22] In an article for Exclaim, Angela Morrison called the album "remarkable", with "Jepsen [finding] a formula that works well for her — sparkling synth-pop inflected by giddy romantic anticipation". Morrison went into further detail with some of the tracks on the album, noting that "the slinky, sexy 'Fake Mona Lisa' and the bubbly, shimmering 'Now I Don't Hate California After All' sound like nothing she has ever done before", and that "'Felt This Way' takes a melancholic approach", while its counterpart, "Stay Away", "is more cheeky and upbeat". In addition, Morrison wrote that the album was "brimming with starry-eyed euphoria, glittery synth-pop confections and her characteristically odd lyrical syntax", concluding that "In essence, it has everything that makes Jepsen's music lovable and bewitching".[14]
Writing for NPR, Jon Lewis stated that "the album feels like much more than a compilation of outtakes from her last release", expanding that the project "could have easily functioned as a stand-alone record, with a fresh batch of exuberant, lovestruck choruses to get lodged in your head all summer". Lewis also called the new tracks "both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it can be frustrating to listen to her always perfect dance pop on the eve of a summer likely to be short on dance parties. On the other, no one makes music for dancing like nobody's watching or singing along in the shower like Carly Rae Jepsen".[23] In an article from Sputnikmusic, SowingSeason wrote that the "twelve outstanding pop songs with nary a weak link" were "better than the album from which these songs were cast off", "quite possibly the best Carly Rae Jespen release, period". The writer also described the tracks as "80s-washed, electronic summer pop songs that Jepsen can now craft in her sleep", in addition to being "more upbeat, energetic, and memorable than its counterpart, featuring hook-laden verses and explosive choruses that only came through intermittently on [Dedicated]". The writer further stated that the "album is good enough that had Jepsen simply released it with a new title, nobody would have batted an eye – it would have just been assumed that she poured her heart and soul into these tracks and that it is the spiritual successor to Emotion", concluding that as Jepsen "surprise releases her very best album to date – as if they’re songs she couldn’t care less about – she proves why she’s one of the best pop artists in the whole industry".[19] Callie Ahlgrim from Insider described the album as a "cohesive, sun-dappled, exultant artistic vision", as Jepsen "revels in her feel-good pop dominance and '80s-infused idealism". Ahlgrim commented on how Jepsen "rarely deviates from her sparkling, tingly, edge-free formula", writing that she "doesn’t need to", as she "simply continues to stack impeccable, immediately likable bops on top of each other, like an everlasting Jenga tower — no biggie".[24] Writing for Slant Magazine, Alexa Camp wrote that while the album "less musically adventurous than those [on Dedicated]", it "[doubles] down on pillow talk, lending the album a uniformity that its predecessor lacked". Camp went into further detail about the opening track, writing that "'This Love Isn’t Crazy' is as immediate as anything in Jepsen’s catalog and finds producer Jack Antonoff at his most unapologetically pop", in addition to describing the album’s closing track, "the island-flavored closing track 'Now I Don’t Hate California After All'" as a callback to Dedicated’s "Right Words, Wrong Time". Camp wrote off by concluding that the songs on the album represented the "wealth of treasures she had to choose from, [and] her ability to craft a cohesive narrative", as "Jepsen offers wistfully on the meditative 'Comeback,' demonstrating the tangled multi-dimensionality of both her psyche and the act of sex itself".[18]
Commercial performance
The album peaked at number 58 on the Canadian Albums Chart. In the United States, it peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart. The album's highest peak position was number eight on the Scottish Albums chart. It also peaked at number 42 on the UK Albums Chart.
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | "This Love Isn't Crazy" | Antonoff | 3:53 | |
2. | "Window" |
|
| 3:18 |
3. | "Felt This Way" |
|
| 3:37 |
4. | "Stay Away" |
| Jack & Coke | 3:37 |
5. | "This Is What They Say" |
| Oak/The Orphanage | 3:34 |
6. | "Heartbeat" |
|
| 4:13 |
7. | "Summer Love" |
|
| 3:16 |
8. | "Fake Mona Lisa" |
| Hightower | 2:12 |
9. | "Let's Sort the Whole Thing Out" |
|
| 3:54 |
10. | "Comeback" (featuring Bleachers) |
| Antonoff | 3:44 |
11. | "Solo" |
| Flannigan | 3:16 |
12. | "Now I Don't Hate California After All" |
|
| 4:53 |
Total length: | 43:24 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
13. | "Let's Be Friends" |
| 3:10 | |
14. | "Always on My Mind" |
|
| 3:15 |
Total length: | 49:49 |
Notes:
- ^[a] signifies a vocal producer.
Personnel
Adapted from the album liner notes.
Performance
- Jack Antonoff – keys (tracks 1, 10), programming (tracks 1, 10), percussion (track 1), drums (tracks 1, 10), background vocals, (track 10)
- Christopher J Baran – programming (tracks 13, 14), drums (tracks 13, 14)
- Patrik Berger – drums (track 7), all instruments (track 9, 12), programming (tracks 9, 12), engineering (track 12)
- Bleachers – feature vocals (track 10)
- Tyler Andrew Duncan – keys (track 2), synths (track 2), whistling (track 2), programming (track 2), sound design (track 2)
- Warren "Oak" Felder – instrumentation (track 5), programming (track 5)
- James Flannigan – programming (track 11), background vocals (track 11)
- John Hill – guitar (track 3), programming (track 3), keys (tracks 3, 7), drums (track 7)
- Hightower – keyboards (track 8), drums (track 8), programming (track 8), instrumentation (track 8)
- Jack & Coke – keyboards (track 4), drums (track 4), percussion (track 4), guitars (track 4), bass (track 4), programming (track 4), instrumentation (track 4)
- Carly Rae Jepsen – lead vocals (all tracks), background vocals (track 11)
- Julia Karlsson – background vocals (track 8)
- Theo Katzman – background vocals (track 2), drums (track 2), guitars (track 2), electric bass (track 2), percussion (track 2)
- Marcus Krunegård – all instruments (track 9), programming (track 9)
- Dave Palmer – keys (track 7)
- Jordan Palmer – keys (track 3), programming (track 3)
- Ariel Rechtshaid – drums (track 6), programming (track 6), keys (track 6)
- Ben Romans – guitars (track 13), keys (tracks 13, 14)
- Buddy Ross – keys (track 6)
- Joey Whitley – guitar (track 6), bass (track 6)
- Pontus Winnberg – all instruments (track 9), programming (track 9)
Technical
- Jack Antonoff – production (tracks 1, 10), recording (tracks 1, 10)
- Christopher J Baran – production (tracks 13, 14), engineering (tracks 13, 14)
- Patrik Berger – production (tracks 7, 9, 12)
- Jake Birch – mixing (track 2)
- Rob Cohen – vocal production (tracks 3, 7), engineering (tracks 3, 7)
- Brian Cruz – assistant engineering (track 10)
- Tyler Andrew Duncan – production (track 2)
- Greg Eliason – assistant engineering (track 10)
- James Flannigan – production (track 11), programming (track 11), engineering (track 11)
- Gene Grimaldi – mastering (all tracks)
- John Hill – production (tracks 3, 7)
- Hightower – production (track 8)
- Jack & Coke – production (track 4)
- Chris Kasych – mixing (track 1)
- Theo Katzman - production (track 2)
- Mitch McCarthy – mixing (tracks 3-14)
- Oak – production (track 5)
- The Orphanage – production (track 5)
- Jordan Palmer – production (track 3)
- Ariel Rechtshaid – production (track 6), engineering (track 6)
- Ben Romans – production (tracks 13, 14), engineering (tracks 13, 14)
- Buddy Ross – production (track 6)
- Laura Sisk – recording (tracks 1, 10)
- John Rooney – assistant engineering (tracks 1, 10)
- Jon Sher – assistant engineering (tracks 1, 10)
- Pontus Winnberg – production (tracks 9, 12)
Other personnel
- Hayley Atkin – styling
- Tavish Crowe – musical director
- Amy Davis – creative director
- Jonathan Eshak – management (Mick Management)
- Angela Groundwater – illustration
- Pamela Gurley – legal representation (Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks)
- Laura Hess – management (Moonscape Music)
- Dina Hovsepian – art direction, design
- Kenny Meiselas – legal representation (Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks)
- Natalie O'Moore – album cover photography
- Steve Smith – management (Mick Management)
Charts
Chart (2020) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[26] | 58 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[27] | 8 |
UK Albums (OCC)[28] | 42 |
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[29] | 22 |
Release history
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | May 21, 2020 | [30] | ||
June 12, 2020 | [31][32][33] | |||
Japan | June 17, 2020 | CD | Universal | [25][34] |
References
- ^ Romano, Nick (May 23, 2020). "Carly Rae Jepsen drops surprise Dedicated Side B album: 'I'm bad at keeping secrets'". Entertainment Weekly. United States: Meredith Corporation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ Manzella, Sam (May 21, 2020). "Carly Rae Jepsen Blesses Our Thursday with Dedicated Side B". Logo TV. United States: ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ Pineda, Dorany (May 21, 2020). "The rumors are true: Carly Rae Jepsen surprises fans with new album". Los Angeles Times. United States: Nant Capital. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ Ruiz, Matthew Ismael; Monroe, Jazz (May 21, 2020). "Carly Rae Jepsen Releases New Album Dedicated Side B". Pitchfork. United States: Condé Nast. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ Spanos, Brittany (May 21, 2020). "Carly Rae Jepsen Releases Surprise Album Dedicated: Side B". Rolling Stone. United States: Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ Wetmore, Brendan (May 21, 2020). "Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Dedicated: Side B' Is Here, and It Broke Me". PAPER. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ Spanos, Brittany (May 1, 2019). "Carly Rae Jepsen: Queen of Hearts". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
- ^ Wass, Mike (May 17, 2019). "Interview: Carly Rae Jepsen On 'Dedicated' & New Album Of B-Sides". Idolator. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Wetmore, Brendan (May 27, 2020). "Carly Rae Jepsen Breaks Down 'Dedicated: Side B'". PAPER. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Carly Rae Jepsen Dedicated Side B". AnyDecentMusic. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
- ^ "Carly Rae Jepsen Dedicated Side B". Album of the Year. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
- ^ a b "Dedicated Side B by Carly Rae Jepsen Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ^ Barr, Natalia (May 25, 2020). "Carly Rae Jepsen's Dedicated Side B Delivers More of the Same: Review". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- ^ a b Morrison, Angela. "Carly Rae Jepsen Is So Great Even Her 'Dedicated' B-Sides Are Brilliant Pop Gems". Exclaim. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Shutler, Ali (May 21, 2020). "Carly Rae Jepsen – 'Dedicated Side B' review: an inspiration refuses to rest on her laurels". NME. United Kingdom: Bandlab Technologies. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
- ^ Pappis, Konstantinos (May 25, 2020). "Album Review: Carly Rae Jepsen, 'Dedicated Side B'". Our Culture Mag. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
- ^ Zhang, Cat (May 29, 2020). "Review: Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Camp, Alexa. "Review: Carly Rae Jepsen's Dedicated Side B Boldly Embraces the Pangs of Lust". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b SowingSeason. "Review: Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B | Sputnikmusic". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Hull, Tom (June 2, 2020). "Music Week". Tom Hull – On the Web. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
- ^ Barr, Natalia (May 25, 2020). "Carly Rae Jepsen's Dedicated Side B Delivers More of the Same: Review". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ DeVille, Chris (May 25, 2020). "Carly Rae Jepsen's Joyous Low-Stakes Rom-Com Continues Unfettered". Stereogum. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Lewis, Jon. "Carly Rae Jepsen Releases 'Dedicated Side B,' The Album We All Needed". NPR. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Ahlgrim, Callie. "15 absolutely essential albums released by female artists this year (so far)". Insider. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- ^ a b "New CD: Title is to be announced". CD Japan. Japan. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ "Carly Rae Jepsen Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
- ^ "Carly Rae Jepsen Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^
Various citations concerning May 21, 2020, release of Dedicated Side B:
- "Dedicated Side B by Carly Rae Jepsen". Apple Music. United States. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- "Dedicated Side B CD + Digital Album". Carly Rae Jepsen Official Website. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- "Dedicated Side B Cassette + Digital Album". Carly Rae Jepsen Official Website. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- "Signed Dedicated Side B LP + Digital Album". Carly Rae Jepsen Official Website. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ "Carly Rae Jepsen – Dedicated Side B CD". Rough Trade Records. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
- ^ "Carly Rae Jepsen – Dedicated Side B LP". Rough Trade Records. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
- ^ "Carly Rae Jepsen – Dedicated Side B: Limited Cassette Tape". Urban Outfitters. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
- ^ "デディケイティッド・サイドB". Universal Music Japan. Retrieved June 17, 2020.