E.Mo.Tion
Carly Rae Jepsen
(Interscope)
Four stars
It is perhaps too early to call it a trend, but Carly Rae Jepsen is the second big pop star to go in an all-out 1980s-pop direction. Whether a coincidence or not, her new collection, E.Mo.Tion, is also the best pop-music release since Taylor Swift's similar-sounding 1989 came out in October last year. Vintage-Madonna fans should enjoy the hit lead single I Really Like You – it's a pure 1980s blast from the past, with juddering bass lines, a warm wall of synths and Jepsen's confident vocals. The joyous chorus is pure Madge, recalling the carefree vibes of Cherish. In Boy Problems, Jepsen gets all funky, with shimmying Nile Rodgers-esque riffs, while LA Hallucination is a production triumph, featuring a dense mix of whirring synths and a stalking beat. Not everything is totally retro and sun-kissed, though – Warm Blood (co-written by Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij) is a contemporary slow-burner, with distorted vocals and an almost spoken-word bridge. With more hits sure to follow, E.Mo.Tion should play a part in helping to usher in a soon-to-come 1980s pop revival – which is not necessarily a bad thing.
sasaeed@thenational.ae
