I just wanted to take a moment to talk about Carly Rae Jepsen, remember her? The “Call Me Maybe” girl? What if I told you that I too, hated that song? Back when I first heard it, it was the worst thing I could imagine at the time. But what’s past is past, and things have since changed, so I am not here to talk about that song. Instead I’m here to talk about her most recent releases,

E•MO•TION was released in 2015, and Side B, was released exactly a year later than the original.  And although the original album underperformed commercially, it was one of the most critically admired pop records in recent memory, it even received a better Metacritic score than any album released by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift and Britney Spears, among other big name pop princesses.

So you might be thinking to yourself, “Well, what changed since ‘Call Me Maybe?’,” and the answer is simple; Jepsen was able to give herself the credit she deserved for having the biggest song of 2012, and in doing so, she took a well-deserved break from the whirlwind type of experience she must’ve had with ‘Call Me Maybe’.

She spent the majority of her time creating song after song with some of the greatest producers and writers I could possibly imagine. What really paid off well for this album was that she was able to put together an insanely talented team of producers. Everyone from Shellback, to Rostam Batmanglij from Vampire Weekend, Ariel Rechtshaid, Sia, Peter Svensson, Greg Kurstin, Dev Hynes, among countless others, all contributed to this piece of music.

What’s probably even more impressive in my opinion, is how even though she took a break from the spotlight following the success of ‘Maybe’, she never stopped creating music. According to her, more than two-hundred and fifty songs were written and recorded for this album, but she and her team ended up choosing the best twelve for a seamless, cohesive, eighties inspired bubblegum pop album; that over the past year has become an essential part of my music library. And surprisingly enough, I’m still not totally tired of it. But even if I was, her most recent release this past week, E•MO•TION: Side B, I’m sure will do the same, as it’s simply more songs that were written for the original release last year, but didn’t make the final cut.

Standout tracks for E•MO•TION in my opinion include, ‘Boy Problems,’ ‘All That,’ ‘When I Needed You’, the title track ‘E•MO•TION,’ and ‘Warm Blood’. But if you also wanted to check out the recently released Side B album, I would definitely check out ‘Fever,’ ‘Body Language,’ and ‘Roses,’ I can promise you won’t regret it.