Carly Rae Jepsen interview

‘There’s something undeniable to me about a good hook’ Says singer Carly Rae Jepsen

Discussing her new album ‘The Loneliest Time’ due outtoday she talks about her genuine love of pop music, embracing a “no rules” attitude while making the new album, changing her approach to reaching out to potential collaborators like Taylor Swift following Tom Hanks’ cameo in her music video, the highs and lows of tour life, why she’s not a fan of Karaoke, and reveals that the 1996 Spice Girls debut album was the first CD she ever bought.

Carly Rae Jepsen Talks About Her Genuine Love of Pop Music, Max Martin, and The Spice Girls…I love pop music so much.

There’s something undeniable to me about a good hook. I mean, the Spice Girls, come on. From that moment I heard it, it was like heroin injection for me, of like, okay, there’s something here. To me, it’s a little bit more like I’m a Max Martin fan. I love pop.

I’m appreciative of the writing. I mean, I love the chaos of the thing. I mean, there are words to say about a girl being called Baby, Sexy, and Scary that I could get into. That’s a different conversation, really.On The Debut Album from The Spice Girls Is the First Album She Ever Purchased…

I can remember hearing “Wannabe”, and when record stores were still a thing, going in, being like, “So there’s a song, this new group,” and like, “there’s a hook, like, ‘tell me what you want, what you really,'” and the guy’s like, “All right. Just come right this way.” And, that was the first CD I ever bought.

On Changing Her Perspective on Reaching Out to Potential Collaborators After the Tom Hanks Cameo in Her Music Video…

We were kind of in mid lockdown, so it was tricky. I couldn’t kind of go about it the same way where I could just fly to a place because I was interested in working with a person. So, it began by just sort of realising that if I was at home alone in my sweatpants for three days on end, then somebody else in London that I might be curious to work with might be available too. So, I just started to be brave about emailing some of the people that I was excited about meeting. The problem with me is I got cocky ever since Tom Hanks, right? You get one movie star, and you start to think you can ask anybody for anything. You start feel like all they can say is no. That’s where I land with it. You need to ask and then they can say no. And then you’re the same position that you’d be if you never asked it. That’s how I feel about it.

On Making Peace with Finalising Her Albums and The Ceremonial Final Listen…

Oh, done, done is a hard thing for me to achieve. I feel like I really believe when people say that thing, it’s never quite done. There’s just kind of like a due date. and I believe that if I had till tomorrow, there’s little things I would fix and tweak at still because that’s just the way I look at creativity. It doesn’t really have a stop time. But I will say that I do have to do a kind of ceremonious process of listening one last time and making peace for a thing. And that probably happened when I was just in Spain. The last time we were there is I got to go kind of for a little late night walk headphones and listen to things. There’s one moment I called my A&R being like, “Was this spacing too long?” Which he’s like, “Stop now. Please stop.” I was like, “You’re right. You’re right. Okay, thank you. Thank you. I needed someone to say that.”

On The Origin of Her Song “Go Find Yourself or Whatever” and Embracing a “No Rules” Attitude Making The Album…

I just picked up the microphone, saying a couple things that I don’t really remember, lyrically even, singing about, which probably says a lot about what’s really going on in my head. I definitely have been in love with the traveller before. And then I also think that, looking back on the song when I perform it live now, I think there’s elements of this song that very much just speak to me too, as the traveller. You feel safe in sorrow. You feel safe on an open road. Go find yourself or whatever. I kind of forgot about it because it was a late-night session, and doing two songs in a day, sometimes your brain starts to play tricks on you. It was about two weeks later, maybe three weeks, and Rostam just sent me an email, being like, remember this? And then I listened, and I was like, “Huh. Am I allowed to do songs like that?” And, I think that challenging that question and answering with an absolute “yeah, there are no rules” is really what this album’s about. I think that rebellion led me to fit songs like Beach House and then Go Find Yourself or Whatever on the same album with the idea that it’s an old idea that a pop artist has to be one thing, the cute pop star. It’s sort of like, women, we contain multitudes. Why can’t this album allow that exploration a little bit?

On “The Loneliest Time” feat. Rufus Wainwright…

This song is very much about that fantasy of going over to your exes in the middle of the night and pouring rain to rekindle what was not finished. And it’s just a terrible idea in real life, but it’s really fun to sing about.

On The Highs and Lows of Tour Life…

I won’t lie to you. Touring is not for the faint of heart. I keep on comparing it to the Oregon Trail. We are going at a gruelling pace. We might have lost a couple people along the way. It’s so fun too. Every show does feel like a mini miracle that’s being pulled off. And I’m really, very elated to be on stage. I think too, to be back with a full production, that is a vision that I’ve been able to dream up over much time alone in my house, being like, “And there’ll be a moon, and she’ll be a love mascot.” I’ve just been able to bring all these thoughts to life, which has been a process. But to see it all come to life with the script and the thing, all the girls, the little choreography moments, the confetti, it is very dreamlike that I get to put this thing on. But I’m going to tell you, venue showers, man. Not pretty things. I’m like, is this going to make me cleaner or dirtier? I don’t really know. There’s some magical parts that maybe I weirdly get off on. I really love waking up in the bus, and the moment that you open the screen and you don’t know what you’re going to see.

On Why She’s Not a Fan of Karaoke…

Do you know how deeply awkward it is to do singing as a profession and then be invited to go do karaoke? You can’t ever serious karaoke. People are waiting to be like, “All right, are you going to be annoying and take it seriously?” You’re like, “No, of course not. It’s karaoke.”