Carly Rae Jepsen knows what it’s like to be alone and takes advantage of it for her new album | Radio-Canada News

Carly Rae Jepsen knows what it’s like to be alone.

His latest album, titled The loneliest moment and published on Friday, was written at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when some days seemed uncertain. But isolation wasn’t the only source of inspiration for her sixth album.

“Loneliness itself is a theme I’ve been curious to address and explore all my life,” the 36-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter said in an interview with CBC. Q with Tom Power.

With Jepsen’s touring life, singing in front of hundreds of people, it might be hard to think there would be lonely moments. But this new album challenges that notion.

“Every human being struggles with loneliness in their life. I wanted to have an album that could tap into the different reactions to loneliness.”

The pandemic also forced Jepsen’s creative process to change. Like many musicians in the industry, she no longer toured or worked on her album with others face to face.

“I was really excited about creating, but my way of creating changed because we weren’t doing these writing weeks in person with different people – or traveling to the same extent, so my life very quickly, like everyone else, had to adapt,” she said.

WATCH | Carly Rae Jepsen sits down with Q’s Tom Power:

Pandemic downtime

The singer, who was born and raised in Mission, B.C., was stuck in her Los Angeles home and, like many others, took up self-proclaimed “strange hobbies,” like making ugly scarves. But she also ended up on dating apps – something she swore never to do.

“I spoke to other friends who had used these apps. For example, everyone had a horror story. Some people had success, but there was definitely a song idea in there,” she explained.

Jepsen wrote the song beach house based on its experience on said applications.

WATCH | The video for Beach House:

“They can be wonderful and sometimes the easiest way to meet people who may not be part of your community. But I think the people who are there to play with you and play with your feelings – those people have to be called. That’s what this song is for.”

Play with genres

On her new album, Jepsen noted that she had no interest in staying in a narrow pop lane.

“What excites me about pop is its endless possibilities. You can play in genres,” she said. “I wanted this album to feel like there was variety because I have variety in me. Especially with the years by my side, I’m like, ‘Let’s just play now. Let’s just play’ and I want every album to feel more free to do that.”

And time has worked in his favor. It’s been 11 years since the singer released her hit call me Maybe. The song ranked 47 on Billboard’s Greatest Songs of All Time list and was a fun, must-have earworm for months.

She was the first No. 1 on the Mainstream Top 40 in 2012, making Jepsen the first Canadian woman to top the chart since Avril Lavigne in 2007.

After the success of call me Maybe in 2012, Jepsen says she had four months to create a follow-up album. While she was excited and grateful to do so, she has since learned that it was not her ideal process for making a record.

“I’m so proud of this album” she says of her second album, Embrace. “But that’s not how I like to make an album. I explore in many different directions, I come back and I feel solid with that.”

Jepsen described his work ethic at the time as overwhelming. She didn’t turn down any opportunities and didn’t say “no” to anything. “I felt like I was struck by lightning,” she said of call me Maybeis success.

“That experience versus the luxury that I have now – taking my time with an album, really enjoying the process and spending time on why each song is there. And also taking the focus away from a song, from the beauty and illustrations of an album.”

WATCH | The video for Call Me Maybe:

As she prepares for the release of The loneliest momentJepsen recounted the revelation she had about quarantine.

“As I go through my career, as the pace picks up, one of the lessons I’ve learned is that it’s good to know when to turn off the button to do the show, even if you know you feel a little out of place, to take the time each day to fall back into yourself.”