Dedicated (Carly Rae Jepsen album)
Dedicated is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen. It was released on May 17, 2019, by 604 Records in Canada, and School Boy and Interscope Records in the United States. The album was preceded by the release of the singles "Party for One", "Now That I Found You", "No Drug Like Me", "Julien", and "Too Much". To support the album Jepsen embarked on The Dedicated Tour with dates in Europe, North America and Asia. A companion album, Dedicated Side B, featuring outtakes from Dedicated, was released just over a year later on May 21, 2020.[1]
Dedicated
May 17, 2019
2016–2019
- Neon Garden (Maderas Village)
- Rodeo Recording (Santa Monica)
- The Village Studios (Los Angeles)
- Captain Cuts Studio (Los Angeles)
- Rough Customer (Brooklyn)
- Studio America (Los Angeles)
- Hope Studios (Silver Lake)
- 145 House (Sherman Oaks)
- Comic Sands (Los Angeles)
- Westlake Studios (Los Angeles)
- Patrik's House (Stockholm)
- Dogghouse Studios (Stockholm)
42:23
- Jim Alxndr
- Jack Antonoff
- Ayokay
- CJ Baran
- Patrik Berger
- Noah Breakfast
- Captain Cuts
- Rogét Chahayed
- Tommy English
- James Flannigan
- John Hill
- Alex Hope
- Koz
- Jordan Palmer
- Kyle Shearer
- Benjamin Romans
- Anton "HighTower" Rundberg
- Asa Taccone
- Pontus Winnberg
The album received positive reviews and debuted at number 18 in the US, becoming her third top-twenty album. The album also peaked inside the top 20 in Jepsen's home country, at number 16 on the Canadian Albums Chart and at number 17 on the Scottish Albums Chart. Dedicated was named in many year-end lists of best albums of 2019.
Music and lyrics[edit]
Dedicated is a "collection of forward-thinking"[12] pop,[13][12][14] electropop,[12] synth-pop,[15][16] disco[17][18][19] and dance-pop[11] songs inspired by music from the 1980s[13] and 1990s[20] with elements of house and R&B.[20] Its lyrics span themes of "crushing hard, having anxiety about a new relationship, experiencing true lovesickness, breaking up, and finally coming to terms with being alone".[21]
Promotion[edit]
"Party for One" was released as the lead single on November 1, 2018.[22][23] On February 27, 2019, "Now That I Found You" and "No Drug Like Me" were issued as a double A-side single.[24] "Now That I Found You" was written at a writing camp in Nicaragua.[25] A music video for "Now That I Found You" was released on March 14, 2019.[26] On March 31, 2019, Jepsen teased an upcoming announcement on her social media accounts.[27] On April 1, 2019, the title and release date for Dedicated were announced, along with US dates for The Dedicated Tour.[28][29][30] On April 17, 2019, Jepsen revealed the album's track listing and cover.[31][32] The album was made available to pre-order on April 19, 2019, along with the fourth single "Julien".[33][34] "Julien" was written at Maderas Village, Nicaragua in August 2016.[35]
"Too Much" was released as the album's fifth and final single on May 9, 2019.[36] Its music video was released on May 17, 2019.[37] On June 28, Jepsen released a Mansionair remix of "No Drug Like Me" as a promotional single to mark the launch of the North American leg of The Dedicated Tour.[38] On September 19, 2019, a video for the album's fourth track, "Want You in My Room", was uploaded to Jepsen's YouTube channel.[39] A live version of the song recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City was released as a single on October 2, 2019, exclusively on Spotify alongside a cover of No Doubt's "Don't Speak" as a B-side.[40] On October 18, 2019, a live video for the album's ninth track, "The Sound", was uploaded to YouTube.[41] Jepsen and the band performed on a dock in a lake in Finland. MTV called the performance "adorably autumnal and simply sublime".[42] The recording was also released on digital retailers as a promotional single.[43]
Commercial performance[edit]
Dedicated debuted at number 16 in Canada. In the United States, the album debuted at number 18 on the US Billboard 200, selling 21,000 album-equivalent units, of which 13,000 were pure sales.[64] In the UK, it debuted at number 26. In Japan, the album debuted at number 28.