Taylor Swift. Ariana Grande. Britney Spears. When thinking of the queens of pop, those are names that seem to always make the list. “Dedicated,” Carly Rae Jepsen’s fourth studio album, shows she wants to be pop royalty too.
“Dedicated” is full of young love lyrics and '80s synth-pop sounds. It has many catchy bops perfect for summer. The album is perfectly designed to be a standard pop album: bubblegum love songs that will get stuck in anyone’s head.
The album starts and ends strong with two of its best tracks. The first track, “Julien,” kicks off the album with a strong '80s beat paired with catchy lyrics about a love that didn’t last. It sets the vibe of the album as heavy on the synthesizer and fun, cheerful lyrics dispersed throughout.
The final track, “Party For One,” follows the same recipe as the first, but the lyrics are much more carefree and about Jepsen herself rather than a lost lover. It still has that upbeat electronic dance sound to make it an instant classic.
Throughout the rest of the 15-track album, Jepsen delivers quality hits such as “Too Much,” which is the most recently released single, and “Feels Good (feat. Electric Guest),” which is the only track to include a feature.
Both these songs deliver enjoyable, cute and cliché lyrics about love that reminds you of rom-coms or high school romance. They provide a sense of warmth from the lighthearted innocence to them, while also making listeners want to bop their heads or get up and dance.
However, the lyrics sometimes fall flat. While every song on the album is centered around love and romance, certain songs lack some depth in the lyrics, like “Everything He Needs,” which becomes repetitive and monotonous.
This album proves Jepsen knows what it takes to deliver a pop album — and a pretty good one. Jepsen knows the ingredients that go into it and is getting close to perfecting it.
“Dedicated” may not be a top pop album like Swift’s “1989” or Spears’ “…Baby One More Time,” but it deserves recognition as a quality collection of pop songs to add to Jepsen’s already impressive body of work. It delivers hits with sing-along lyrics and head-bopping beats.
