(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CALL ME MAYBE")
CARLY RAE JEPSEN: (Singing) Hey, I just met you.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Carly Rae Jepsen exploded onto the charts in 2012.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CALL ME MAYBE")
JEPSEN: (Singing) But here's my number, so call me maybe.
SUMMERS: "Call Me Maybe" is one of the best-selling singles of all time, but Jepsen has now been releasing critically acclaimed pop music for more than a decade. And today, she's out with her eighth album. It's called "Day And Night." WBUR arts and culture reporter Amelia Mason is with us now. Hey there.
AMELIA MASON, BYLINE: Hello. Thanks for having me.
SUMMERS: Thanks for being here. OK, Amelia, I'm a huge Carly Rae Jepsen fan, but for people who haven't been following her career since "Call Me Maybe" came out, help us contextualize this new album.
MASON: Yes. So for the uninitiated, Carly Rae Jepsen is a Canadian pop star who's known for making catchy, dreamy, synth-forward pop music. And after "Call Me Maybe," her 2015 album "Emotion" was another big breakthrough. She also released a B-sides companion album to that, which is something she's done with every album since then. And with "Day And Night," we're kind of getting two albums at once. Like, she's not waiting to release the B-sides. It's 24 tracks, and the "Day" side is warm and breezy, kind of bedroom disco. The track "Habit (ph) Of Creature" is a great example of that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HABITS OF CREATURES")
JEPSEN: (Singing) But you know what I mean, we're just habits of creatures. Give me some more of the same. It's a beautiful world for a body of dreamers, riding our love like a wave.
SUMMERS: OK, 24 tracks is pretty expansive. We've talked about "Day." Tell us about the "Night" side.
MASON: The "Night" side is, I think, a true dance record - you know, thumping beats, slightly darker production. It's songs that sound and feel like a sweaty 2 a.m. dance floor. And that side kicks off real strong with a song called "Never Let A Good Thing Die." It's this propulsive disco track. I mean, actually, like, the opening bassline could almost be mistaken for a genuine disco-era hit. But then there's this, like, very EDM-ish electronic sample in the chorus that kind of gives it away.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEVER LET A GOOD THING DIE")
JEPSEN: (Singing) I want to take my time. Why don't we take our time? I want to feel the rise again, the beating of my heart, and then I never want to say goodbye.
SUMMERS: I mean, Amelia, there are so many different directions to go in here with so many songs. Where should people start?
MASON: I mean, you're right. I think you could start anywhere. I actually - I don't think that any of these songs belong on a B-side. I think they're all really great, genuinely. But if I had to pick one, it would be "Versailles." This song, I think, encapsulates something about Carly Rae Jepsen that has always been true, which is that she's really great at writing about yearning but always with this sense of self-awareness about her tendency to be a person who yearns.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "VERSAILLES")
JEPSEN: (Singing) We'll go all night, just to feel, just to feel, just to feel, just to feel something.
MASON: There's something. There's a line in this song - I want to be good, I want to be bad, I want to have fun, I want to feel desperate. So it's sort of a song about yearning, but a song about yearning to feel it, feel that feeling - you know, that feeling of desire and getting swept away. And also the production is really cool. There's a very surprising thing that happens, and when you hit the chorus, the vibe completely shifts. It genuinely surprised me, which is a rare thing in pop music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "VERSAILLES")
JEPSEN: (Singing) Boy, I want to see you with that look in your eye. Boy, you haven't lived until you'vе lived in Versailles. Somеthing about the way you make me open my mind. I want to be good, I want to be bad, I want to have fun, I want to feel desperate. Everything's..
SUMMERS: WBUR's Amelia Mason, talking about Carly Rae Jepsen's new album, "Day And Night." You can hear about more great new albums out today on NPR Music's New Music Friday podcast. Amelia, thanks so much.
MASON: You're welcome. It was my pleasure.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "VERSAILLES")
JEPSEN: (Singing) I want to be good, I want to be bad, I want to have fun, I want to feel desperate. I want to wake up in Versailles. In the mirror, there's a thousand dreams. Candelabras in the sun, in the sun, in the sun. We could sleep all day, and we're never done. Staining cherries in the bedsheets, Marie Antoinette but modern, running naked through the garden just to feel alive. You could be my favorite. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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