Carly Rae Jepsen knows what it feels like to be lonely.
Her latest album launched Friday, The Loneliest Time, was written through the early days of the pandemic, when some days felt unsure. But isolation wasn’t the solely inspiration for her sixth album.
“Loneliness itself has been a theme that I’ve been inquisitive about getting into and exploring for my complete life,” the 36-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter mentioned in an interview with CBC’s Q with Tom Power
With Jepsen’s touring life, singing in entrance of lots of of individuals, it may be troublesome to suppose there would be moments of loneliness. But this new album is difficult this notion.
“Every human being battles with loneliness of their life. I wished to have an album that received to faucet in on what totally different reactions to loneliness look like.”
The pandemic additionally pressured her inventive course of to change. Like many musicians within the trade, she was now not touring or engaged on her album with others face-to-face.
“I used to be actually excited to create, however the best way I created modified as a result of we weren’t doing these in-person writing weeks with totally different individuals — or getting to journey to the identical extent, so my life actually shortly, simply like everybody’s did, had to modify,” Jepsen mentioned.
Downtime in a pandemic
The singer, who was born and raised in Mission, B.C., was caught in her Los Angeles dwelling and like many others, she picked up some self-professed “bizarre hobbies.” like making ugly scarves. But she additionally discovered herself on courting apps – one thing she swore she would by no means do.
“I talked to different mates who had been on these apps; like everybody had a horror story. Some individuals had success, however there was a music thought in there for certain,” she defined.
She wrote the music Beach House primarily based on her expertise on mentioned apps.
WATCH | Beach House
“They can be fantastic and generally the simplest manner to meet individuals that may not be in your neighborhood. But I believe that people who find themselves on the market to play a sport with you and play along with your emotions — these individuals want to be known as out. This is what that music is for.”
Playing round with genres
On her new album, Jepsen famous that she had no real interest in staying in a slim path of pop.
“What excites me about pop is its infinite potentialities. You can mess around within the genres,” she mentioned. “I wished this album to really feel like it had selection to it as a result of I’ve selection in myself. Especially with the years of time on my aspect, I’m like, ‘let’s simply play now. Let’s simply play,’ and I would like each album to really feel extra free to do this.”
And time has been on her aspect, 11 years in the past, the singer launched her hit monitor Call Me Maybe. The music ranked 47 on Billboard’s Greatest Songs of All-Time List, and was a enjoyable, inescapable earworm for months.
WATCH | Call Me Maybe
It was the primary No. 1 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart in 2012, making Jepsen the primary Canadian girl to high the chart since Avril Lavigne in 2007.
After the success of Call Me Maybe in 2012, Jepsen says she was given 4 months to give you a followup album. While she was excited and grateful to do it, Jepsen has since realized it will not be her ideally suited course of for making a report.
“I’m so happy with that album,” she mentioned of her second album, Kiss. “But it’s not how I like to make an album. I discover in a number of totally different instructions, come again, and really feel strong with it.”
Jepsen described her work ethic on the time as hustling. She did not flip down any alternatives, and did not say “no” to something. “I felt like I used to be struck by lightning,” she mentioned of Call Me Maybe‘s success.
“That expertise versus the luxurious that I’ve now, getting to take my time with an album, getting to actually benefit from the course of and placing time into why every music is there. And to additionally take focus away from a music and the sweetness and paintings of an album.”
As she prepares for the discharge of The Loneliest Time, Jepsen recounted the epiphany she had over quarantine.
“As I transfer ahead in my profession, because the tempo picks up once more, one of many classes that I’ve realized is it’s good to know when to change off the button to do the present, even when you understand you are feeling a little bit off, to make time day-after-day to change again into your self once more.”