“Emotion: Side B’s” cover is a more colorful version of its sister album’s, “Emotion.” “Side B” features songs that were made for “Emotion,” but did not make the cut. Both albums have received critical acclaim for the Canadian singer.07
By Nicolas Jozefczyk | Staff Writer
On the one year anniversary of Carly Rae Jepsen’s third studio album “Emotion,” Carly tweeted “Happy 1 year Emotion! Your anniversary present is coming this Friday 8/26,” as well as cover art for a new EP. Released on Aug. 26, “Emotion: Side B” added eight new songs. The tracks, as explained by Jepsen, were written for the “Emotion” album but did not make the cut. The EP is around 27 minutes, and each melody fits perfectly not only on the album itself but on the original “Emotion” album as well.
All of the music on the EP lives in a world that exists in-between love. Jepsen is not exactly a “love song” songwriter, but rather she writes about love in the sense of a memory, one that has been long lost. The first track on “Emotion: Side B,” “First Time,” starts out with the sound of a cassette tape being inserted into a tape deck. The play button is hit and the tape plays the very first line of the chorus, “through all the heartbreak/ we’ll make it feel like the first time/ first time.” The way the song begins makes the listener feel that this music is from the past, instead of the present.
Following the theme constructed by “First Time,” the next track “Higher” has an upbeat yet tame melody. With a balance of a drum-set and a well-timed synth, the music greatly complements the lyrics. “Higher,” having a theme built around the fact that love makes her feel “high,” follows the perfect chronological flow throughout the entire album.
The next melody, “The One,” is a beautiful song with soothing and airy vocals. The score is comprised mostly of synth and bass, with an added woodblock strike every now and then. For a track based around relationship anxiety and doubt, the staccato base adds an anxious feeling to the song as a whole.
“Fever,” the EP’s fourth song, has a theme centered around catching love and not in a romantic way. The music is made up of mostly synth tones, with an occasional heart rate monitor beep to keep with the subject of the title. With sad, wispy and occasionally belting vocals, the lyrics add the feeling of going through happy, sad and desperate emotions all at the same time.
The album takes a turn after “Fever” with the next track, “Body Language.” “Body Language” shifts the theme from sad back to fun and upbeat. Again, by using a drum-set and a synth, the score coalesces to form a fast tempo and bright melody. The sound of the bass drum can be interpreted as a rapid heartbeat, which meshes perfectly with lyrics having to do with love between two people.
“Cry,” which follows “Body Language,” takes a weird musical turn in the feeling of the lyrics and the beat which accompanies them. Using a drum-set and synth tones, the melody is happy-sounding, and it has a faster tempo like “Higher” and “Body Language.” Strangely, the lyrics of the song have a sad realization motif that does not fit with the upbeat tempo. However, because of how it was produced, the different themes actually work together and make a cool sounding track.
The seventh song on the EP, “Store” slows down its tempo and uses simple synth tones along with occasional snapping to create an almost moderate, playful sound. This playfulness contributes to the subject of the melody, which is about ghosting your significant other. This track is the perfect segway to the final song, “Roses.”
“Roses” is a soothing, melodic masterpiece. It combines almost all of the tones used in the past seven melodies to create an uptempo wrap up of the entire narrative of the album. Using snapping, a synth, a drum set and a tambourine, the score is perfect for the theme.
Overall, “Emotion: Side B” is excellent. Using sounds from ‘80s pop music, all the songs on the EP fit in with the past love storytelling narrative of it seamlessly. “Emotion: Side B” comes highly recommended to anyone who is a fan of pop music.