‘Day And Night’ Review: Carly Rae Jepsen Shines Across Both Halves

‘Day And Night’ lives up to its title. Carly Rae Jepsen, a songwriter with plenty of material to draw from, has made her first double album 15 years after ‘Call Me Maybe’ brought her worldwide fame. Its 24 songs, plus two on the Japanese edition, are divided equally between ‘Day’ and ‘Night’. The concept has been used before, including by Gareth Gates on his 2003 album ‘Go Your Own Way’, but it gives this record a clear shape. ‘Day’ sets the mood; ‘Night’ brings the songs you want to dance to.

Since 2012’s ‘Emotion’, Jepsen has built a career around pop songs that are immediately catchy and still have more to reveal with each listen. The album gave her the mainstream hit ‘I Really Like You’ and ‘Run Away With Me’, whose wistful opening found another audience on Vine. Later songs such as ‘Cut To The Feeling’ and ‘Want You In My Room’ deserved to be even bigger hits than they were. On ‘Day’, she moves further from her usual sound. She told NME this half is “more organic in nature, with more live instruments and a little hint of my roots in folk”, and you can hear that approach throughout.

‘Burning Heart’ takes a turn toward psychedelic rock, ‘Wild Child’ feels made for singing around a campfire, and ‘Just A Little Walk On The Moon’ plays with bossa nova. When it works, ‘Day’ has the glow of looking back on a summer when you fell in love. Jepsen wrote many of its songs after travelling through Europe on tour with her now-husband, musician and producer Cole M.G.N., who also worked on much of the album. At times, though, the gentle sound leaves songs such as ‘Good Fine Alright’ feeling pleasant without making much of an impression.

‘Night’ has more momentum and some of the album’s strongest songs. ‘Don’t Leave Me On The Dancefloor’ pairs an irresistible melody with a touch of ABBA, while the house influenced ‘Motivation’ celebrates both the family Jepsen was born into and the one she has chosen. ‘Near Or Far’ brings to mind the graceful sadness of Everything But The Girl. On ‘Amalfi Coast’, she gives disco a warm, hazy feel that recalls Kylie Minogue.

The two halves offer different pleasures, and Jepsen’s writing gives you a reason to stay with both. In ‘After All’, she pictures a seaside place with “white walls [and] terracotta tiles” as she thinks about building a life with someone. “I want to be the owner, I want to buy you flowers”, she sings, before desire takes over: “Why don’t you take your shirt off for me now? I want to take your photograph like that”. On ‘Day And Night’, wanting a future together and being caught up in the moment feel like parts of the same story. It is a lively, distinctive album from a pop star who keeps finding fresh ways to write about love.