Tug of War – Carly Rae Jepsen: The pop star has more going for her than asking guys to call her
Everyone has heard Jepsen’s infectious No. 1 hit, “Call Me Maybe.” I bought it, listened to it on repeat and got tired of the single, like a lot of people. Then I got the Kiss album from him as a gift and found it to be an incredibly catchy album, great for working out. Honestly, I was a little sad because I thought there was more to his music than that. As I always do, I took an interest in her and found out that she had released another album, her debut album.
Fresh from Canadian Idol, Jepsen released her debut album, filled with songs she wrote herself. With this record, Jepsen took influences from many musical genres, making this album a collage of different types of music. It builds on the typical pop rock and adds a folk twist to it, and even brings in some country vibes at some points. She makes her sound unique, something she lost after she decided to go mainstream with “Call Me Maybe”. This album sounds like her personality, and it sounds different.
The first song on the album is “Cube”. In this song, Jepsen samples a nursery rhyme and fuses acoustic pop, reggae, and some sort of Hawaiian music. She uses the metaphor of building a sand castle to talk about her problems with her boyfriend and life in general. This is the first look listeners really get at Jepsen’s songwriting skills. She is able to take a childhood pastime and turn it into a song suitable for a young couple. Another song on the album that really showcases Jepsen as a songwriter is “Money and the Ego.” Along with “Bucket” and “Tug of War”, Jepsen was nominated for Juno Awards Songwriter of the Year with this song. Jepsen debates the meaning of life, but makes the heavy theme more radio-friendly with light acoustic production.
Two tracks with interesting production are the title track and “Heavy Lifting”. The title track has many different parts of the song that play over each other until the end where they all play at the same time, making the song really challenging for your ears trying to hear each part. It becomes an experience for your ears. “Lifting” is my favorite track on the album. Describe the story of first love and their first time. It’s innocent and naive in songwriting, making it a truly upbeat love song that radio misses these days. The song has a strong country pop influence with an acoustic production based on a great bridge and a chorus that completes the track and makes it a pleasant listen.
The bass on this album is “Sunshine on My Shoulders”. It’s a version of the classic John Denver song. A song like this is very difficult to perform well due to the beauty of the original track. Jepsen tries to make it more pop and it doesn’t really work in his favor. This was her radio debut single and she doesn’t reflect her as an artist like the rest of her album does.
Ending the review on a positive note, here is a song that Jepsen should have based his entire career and sound on. “Tell Me” is a short folk-influenced acoustic ballad, only ticking the clock at 2:21. It tells the story of a breakup and the need for her lover to tell her things directly, and not try to dance around her feelings, because she can’t understand it. Jepsen’s voice shines, with his little imperfections turning into positives on this revealing track.
It’s easy to see why Jepsen didn’t keep making these kinds of records. This album didn’t sell well, only selling 10,000 copies today and coming out in 2008. But this is the kind of music that makes Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen, and not just another Katy Perry/Britney Spears clone. I hope that with her new album, Jepsen decides to go back to her roots a bit and create another amazing album like this one.
Best tracks: Money and ego, Tug of war, Heavy lifting, Tell me
Disposable tracks: sun on my shoulders
General rating: 4 and a half crowns
