Carly Rae Jepsen at MTelus: Bubblegum Pop with a Vintage Flavour

Carly Rae Jepsen
MTelus
September 12, 2019
Photos by April Yablonovitch
Review by Marian Rebeiro

It was with an absolutely ear-splitting roar of glee that Montreal fans greeted Carly Rae Jepsen as she took the stage at MTelus on Thursday night. The vintage concert hall was packed to the balcony with pop fans, ready to dance and sing their hearts out along with the bubbly songstress who hails from British Columbia.

Still feeling warm and giddy from a solid opening performance by Toronto-based pop number Ralph, Jepsen’s fans erupted with palpable anticipation as she crooned the first words of her opening number “No Drug Like Me” from her latest album Dedicated. This kicked off a set packed with dance-inducing fan favourites both from Dedicated (2019) and Jepsen’s third studio release Emotion (2015). The fact that the energy in the theatre never wavered even for a beat throughout the whole show is truly a testament to the drug-like effervescence that Jepsen embodies on stage and imbues in her brand of pop music. 

Though most music listeners will remember Jepsen’s breakthrough single from 2011 “Call Me Maybe” as a light-hearted, one-time radio hit, the singer has over the years developed a (somewhat unexpected) level of sophistication through a carefully curated sound that hails back to the disco and synth-pop eras of the 70s and 80s. “We love her retro pop sound that’s maybe not the popular direction for pop music to go in right now, [as opposed to] trap music,” two fans, Vassili Marinis and Ian Boa, said of Jepsen on Thursday night. “We’re really excited to hear ‘Julien,’” they added, referring to the first hit off of Dedicated.

Surely the pair were not disappointed as not only was the song included in the set, but Jepsen shared some insight into “Julien,” explaining that the song’s namesake was a guy she dated in her early twenties, from Montreal no less. “In case you’re here tonight, Julien, I have no feelings for you anymore– don’t call me!” Jepsen declared in between the song’s confessional lyrics.

It’s the little anecdotes Jepsen shares through her music—and elaborates on during her live performances— that make fans feel so uninhibited by her music. Jepsen’s lyrics often explore the more poignant moments that come with falling in—and out—of love, and epitomize the same bubbly feelings and frustrations anyone would gush about with their closest pals. “She doesn’t need to force [her voice] to show emotion,” said concertgoers Guillaume and Catherine Perron before the show.

It’s true that Jepsen mostly sings with a hushed and honeyed voice that is as unintimidating as it is brimming with sincerity, but what’s more impressive is her knack for taking those familiar and sometimes-messy relationship moments and simplifying them into honest and introspective three-minute bops. Take all that and layer it over some hard-hitting funk rhythms, ethereal synth-pop melodies, and the occasional wailing saxophone, and fans gets treated to a constant slew of hits that keep the whole theatre positively jumping and screaming along with Jepsen through numbers like “Want You in My Room,” and “Party for One.”

Jepsen closed the show with an encore featuring the (only slightly) lower-key “Real Love,” a playfully upbeat rendition of “Let’s Get Lost” and topped it all off with perhaps her most anticipated hit, “Cut to the Feeling.” “Take me to emotion/I want to go all the way/show me devotion, I want to go all the way” Jepsen and her fans sang in unison, sharing a moment of dedication to one another.

While pop music sometimes gets a bad rap for being trite and sensationalized, Jepsen eludes those labels by cooking up a brand of pop that tastes at once familiar and bursting with a new infusion of flavours. Like the song says, “When your mouth is running dry/your head high, hold on baby/you ain’t tried no drug like me.”

For all upcoming tour dates visit Jepsen’s official site.