Julien is a really interesting opener choice, of course I've heard this song before alongside the other pre-album releases, but it's such a sweet song. There's something nice about having a specific name. Julien!!! Who is he? I do immediately associate it with Julien Solomita, which only enhances my experience tbh. He's the only Julien. Anyway, it's such a nice, gently funky, smooth opening track. I feel like... listen, I feel like this is a great song to listen to in the bath. That's my opinion.
No Drug Like Me was my favourite of the songs available before the album came out because it's just so big and happy and soaring, on par with all the strongest and most exhilarating songs from Emotion and Emotion Side B, but not only does Dedicated bring more huge and incredible songs with that same infectious danceable rhythm (big favourites are "Want You In My Room" and "Happy Not Knowing", the latter being also Too Real in a most delicious way), it also on the whole has a really interesting softness and instrumentality to it that retains the core of what made her previous work intense, dramatic, tightly constructed pop music with dreamy yet powerful synth energy. This albums keeps that, but adds this interesting fleshy feeling with more little strings and clicks and also an unexpected saxophone on "Happy Not Knowing" that comes in so late and that I love so much.
I love the intro on No Drug Like Me - it feels incredibly purposefully slow and intense and breaks into clicks and then WOAH WE GOT A CHORUS. The sensuality of it in both the almost whispered verse parts and the imagery "a little ghost of us" and "starry eyes, blurry eyes" is woven really satisfyingly into a thrillingly rapid and classic Carly rhythmic synth crescendo. Thank you queen.
Now That I Found You is a natural progression from this and has a more straightforwardly driven dancey sound, and here we get a glimpse of some of the really fun vocal backing and cut up vocal pieces sprinkled through the album that really create a great, collage-y sense of depth and that just, uhhh, sound really good baby!!! It's like she has a little Carly Rae Jepsen Pokémon backing her up on this track. Also it's just, very cute.
Want You In My Room is a huge, immediate favourite. It feels super carefree, but also I love that it has a little bit of 90s jangly pop sound! There's a little bit of a Strawberry Switchblade kinda feel to it, and it is delightful, cute, and also on the fade out there's just a saxophone there. There is just a saxophone, there, for no reason and it's almost pointless but it's actually perfect and good.
Everything He Needs is another smooth song with some of the feel of Julien, but this song has such a gentle mess filter feel to it (and a jaunty piano that says "hello I'm piano ;-) I am here"). It reminds me of playing around in the bed section in Ikea as a kid and getting inside those white mesh bed curtain things. She was probably inside one of those the whole time she was writing and recording this song.
Happy Not Knowing is an immediate huge favourite as well - it's both an incredibly constructed song with a little bit of funk, some gently placed little guitar flairs that are really fun, a tasty build up to a chorus backed by a really nice bassy synth rhythm, and then also its concept is such a perfect bittersweet encapsulation of the pain, bliss, and denial of a suppressed romantic interest. You can feel the sting a little bit. It's so good. This might be my favourite song on Dedicated.
I'll Be Your Girl has a brooding feel which makes me imagine Detective Carly Rae Jepsen, and I expect this to be the sequel to Detective Pikachu (please). Too Much is a wonderful ode to worry and identity. The Sound has a really nice soft and constant sombre piano tune that does a really interesting thing during the chorus and just, becomes distorted - the contrast between the very clear piano notes during verses and the heavy phaser over the top during the chorus is such a great, involving choice and conveys so well a kind of mental/emotional breaking free too. I really like it.
Automatically In Love continues the sort of smooth and gently funk infused portion of the album here, and it's blissful.
In Feels Right, Carly Rae Jepsen has presumably eaten Zara Larsson eats Elton John, and Toploader, to absorb their powers. Electric Guest are great on this, and the smooth high notes they provide kinda let Carly do some more crunchy vocals alongside them, which are really fun.
Right Words Wrong Time has a sort of cradling, back and forth melody which I love. Kinda feels like a driving song.
Real Love is like a Lady Gaga song. It's partly the compressed slightly degraded synth in the background and the way the vocal sort of climbs and bursts, but then also there's this trumpet-y thing happening at some point and it winds back down into the classic Carly Rae Jepsen elements, which are, to me, a certain delicate brooding feeling, and also like........ trumpety synth time. Thanks yeah that's right, I'm a music blogger now and you're gonna hear all of my smart words.
For Sure is: Twin Peaks theme x clapping x probably Carly Rae Jepsen has broken into a church and is singing to the stained glass windows. The "da da da da" part and the clinky drums and the almost choral underlying synth make me feel like she should do some kind of Disney movie soundtrack. You know, like Tarzan, but it's Carly Rae Jepsen instead of Phil Collins. Oddly comparable vibe in some ways. Basically, idk, maybe get Carly to do the soundtrack for the live action version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame or something. Come on. Please. Also there's a sudden "ahhh" near the end which reminds me of a similar moment in one of the Hercules songs.
And I don't really need to say anything about Party For One. It slaps. But okay, I love the piano sound that kinda sounds like a marble bouncing up some stairs. Also there's such great percussion in this album! It's so layered! Okay bye! I love this album!
