However, it also serves as a reminder that she has not maintained a traditional popstar image over the course of her career, and instead has created a new lane for herself as an indie-pop sensation, giving her a sense of longevity and a consistently loyal fanbase many former teen pop idols could only dream of.
Jepsen found fame on the fifth season of Canadian Idol, where she finished third, and burst on to the global pop charts back in 2012 with the epic hit, ‘Call Me Maybe’. Originally released in Canada in 2011, it went to number one in over 19 countries and sold over 12 million copies worldwide.
She appeared to be on her way to international superstardom, supporting Justin Bieber on his ‘Believe’ tour before achieving a top ten major-label debut with ‘Kiss’. She then received two Grammy nominations, won the American Music Award for New Artist of the Year, and received special honour at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards, being the first Canadian to receive their prestigious Rising Star Award.
Then, came her collaboration with Owl City, which produced smash-hit ‘Good Time’, securing her another top ten hit. However, by the end of 2013, Jepsen appeared to have gone radio silent. For a lengthy period, there was hardly any mention of her in the mainstream pop-world, despite a highly successful tour around North America and Asia taking place throughout much of 2013. She made a brief resurgence in the spring of 2014, taking on the lead role of Ella in Broadway's Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella. Yet, there was nothing really in terms of new music.
That was until March 2015, which saw the release of ‘I Really Like You’ – the lead single from Jepsen’s third studio album, ‘Emotion’. It put her well and truly back in the spotlight, reaching number one in Hong Kong and Scotland, whilst also becoming a top ten hit in seven countries, including the UK. In the US, it reached number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video was also hugely popular, with it featuring Bieber and starring Tom Hanks.
However, it was at this point in her career that the dreaded ‘one-hit wonder’ – or should I say ‘two-hit wonder’ – label was being thrown about. I vividly remember overhearing a school-playground conversation about how “Carlay-Rey-Jeepson” was going to be a singer who just “drops a huge song every couple of years before disappearing again”. Oh, how she has proven them wrong.
Now, Jepsen has not matched the mainstream success she reached in the early-to-mid 2010s, but that does not mean she has faded into obscurity – someone with an estimated twenty-three million monthly Spotify listeners could never be accused of doing that. Instead, Jepsen has been reborn as an indie-pop mainstay.
She proudly ditched the mainstream and dedicated herself to her cult-following in the mid-to-late 2010s, when she released ‘Emotion Side B’. Full of unreleased material from the 'Emotion' sessions, she only put it out due to her fans being desperate for the material. This was followed by the release of her fourth studio album, aptly titled ‘Dedicated’. At this point, Jepsen was no longer a top 40 pop artist, and her shift in sound on this album reflected that. She had more freedom to experiment, leaning further into more 1980s-inspired synthetics which she combined with light disco beats and the softness of a gothic, slowcore record – think ABBA meets Annabelle Dinda.
She dialled down the performative components of pop-music and began to use it as a base for experimentation. Jepsen’s music was no longer a product but a project: A project for the fans. This continued with her release of ‘Dedicated Side B’, which served as a companion to ‘Dedicated’ and featured twelve outtakes from the polished album. Thus, giving fans an insight into her own creative processes, creating an intimacy between her and her fanbase and only strengthening their loyalty towards her.
The ‘Jepsies’ stick by their beloved Jepsen because of her commitment to always being honest, vulnerable and consistent with her music, thus driving their enthusiasm for her work. Many a former pop-idol could take a leaf out of Jepsen’s book, in terms of prioritising their fans and focusing on making music they want, as opposed to placing too much emphasis on chart success.
Many a former pop-idol could take a leaf out of Jepsen’s book, in terms of prioritising their fans and focusing on making music they want, as opposed to placing too much emphasis on chart success. Pop careers can be notoriously difficult to sustain once mainstream attention moves elsewhere, but Jepsen has managed to build something beyond that initial success – an audience willing to follow her into whatever comes next.
Just look at the likes of Dannii Minogue, Louise, Robyn, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. They may not have had continued international chart success, yet still remain hugely popular within queer communities and alternative spaces, continuing to release music and projects for their fans, who they know inside out.
Therefore, Jepsen has managed to achieve something that many in the world of pop do not, and that is reinvent herself – but for those that follow her music, not for the mainstream musical gaze.
Call Me Crazy, but perhaps Jepsen's long periods of time out of the spotlight have helped create the cult-following that would respond to the alternative nature of her later work. There's no suggestion that this was a deliberate marketing strategy, but either way she has stayed true to herself, her following and continues to produce a stunningly diverse catalogue of work.
For that reason Carly Rae Jepsen, we all really, really, really, really like you!
‘Day and Night’ is out on September 18, via Schoolboy/Interscope Records.
Cory Gourley
Image: ‘Day and Night’ Official Album Cover