Carly Rae Jepsen Day and Night Review
My musical inclinations often lead me into indie pop and dance pop whenever I’m just trying to groove to some tunes. So many popular artists and songs explore themes of love, passion, and all those fluffy feelings that can come with it. I don’t often find songs that celebrate the joys and wonders of love while still balancing the insecurity and yearning that go hand in hand with those feelings. That’s why Carly Rae Jepsen is in my top five artists every year: her art isn’t afraid to be joyous while still making space for the doubt, fear, and pain that come with love. With complex sound, upbeat swings, and a total tonal shift halfway through, her new double album Day and Night makes that case all over again.
Day and Night is Carly’s seventh studio album and her first full-length since 2022’s The Loneliest Time, and this time she went even bigger. Out September 18th, the 24-track double album splits itself down the middle into day and night, each with its own sound. On the day side, you get songs that feel drenched in sunlight even when what they’re describing isn’t always so bright. Listening to “Wild Child,” I couldn’t help but think that these softer, more vulnerable songs are still ones you can sway to. Even with tears in your eyes, Carly reminds you that you can still dance. The track explores her being too big in her own emotions, with biting lyrics like “If you think that I’m crazy now, baby, wait for it,” where she examines her own insecurities. Many songs on this half of the album carry a dreamy pop frequency while still being emotionally raw in a self-actualizing way.
This album comes on the heels of huge transformations in Carly Rae Jepsen’s life that you can track through the lyrics. Between her last album and now, Carly not only met her partner but married them and became a mother. When an artist is known for pouring themselves into their art, you’d hope those huge life changes bleed into their work — and Carly does exactly that, running those shifts through the sound and lyrics of Day and Night. The Day side explores the sensitivity of love and expression with poise, through the illuminating situations Carly paints with her words.
The track that stands out as the perfect example of this section is “Versailles.” While alluding to Marie Antoinette, it follows a tempo unlike anything else on the album — the pace steadily builds, then pulls back for the chorus, matching what falling in love can feel like. The song feels like a roller coaster, with vulnerable, heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics about wanting to be perfect and the desperation that comes with yearning. Carly has mastered the feeling of yearning, and this song captures so much of what the album seems to be aiming for in tone and voice. Produced by Elias Kapari, it’s the peak of the Day side.
When you hit “Just a Little Walk on the Moon,” you’re melodiously ushered into the close of the Day side. I find it hard to put into words why the opening instrumentals feel like the turn between day and night, but the shift is unmistakable the moment you hear it, like hearing a sunset that pulls you straight into the Night side.
Even after the sun sets, the night stays euphoric. The next track, “Never Let a Good Thing Die,” brings such a funky dance beat that it’s hard not to groove along. Carly trades sunlight for neon without losing an ounce of its warmth. The album explores the euphoric feelings of love with a dance-heavy, exploratory lyrical style that sets it apart from the day half of the album. It is less a full tonal shift and more a mirror, exploring love and feeling from a different angle.
The power of a Carly Rae Jepsen album is that songs about painful topics, like the fear of being left behind, don’t have to be mournful. One of the album’s singles, “Don’t Leave Me on the Dancefloor,” grapples with the fear of falling so head over heels that being left behind feels ever-present. It’s an incredible dance track that will make you want to get on your feet (I did, a few times). But for as fun and upbeat as it is, it still serves tender words like “Don’t leave me in the dark to face another song alone”, a line that in another song could be a tear-drenched plea to stay. Here, it reminds us those fears can still exist even when you’re in love.
Day and Night is Carly Rae Jepsen’s most ambitious album yet — a double LP that explores everything she’s moved through as she transitions between stages of her life, love, and being. Splitting it into day and night lets her build two distinct soundscapes without losing the throughline: strong lyrical moments, some of the most upbeat dance tracks in years, and an album that never stops making room for doubt right alongside the joy. Carly is unmatched in her lane of pop stardom, and Day and Night earns every bit of its 10/10.
