Hana Mullen | Contributing Illustrator

Although “Day and Night” is a step down from the quality of Carly Rae Jepsen’s previous albums, the 24 songs are good enough individually. The key word being enough. 

As an impassioned fan of Jepsen’s music, I am disappointed with her new album. But for first-time listeners who may only know the singer from “Call Me Maybe,” the new songs may not all be subpar. However, against the background of Jepsen’s five previous albums, her new record does not contain the emotion and sonic punch that fans like me have grown to expect. But for lovers of mellow pop and semi-experimental production, there are definitely gems that can be found within the unnecessarily long double album.

On the first half of the album — the “day” section — we get a classic Carly x saxophone crossover on “Burning Heart,” which contains one of the catchiest, albeit basic, choruses on the album. Other songs such as the soft-rock lead single “On Wires” and “Good Fine Alright” provide the audible emotion that is otherwise scarce throughout the album. While the drifting production and contained melodies on most other songs make for a relaxing listen, it gets boring quickly.

While the idea of a two-part album may sound cool, it can only work if both parts are equally good. For Jepsen, this is sadly not the case. In the “night” section of Jepsen’s new record, we hear her delving into dance pop with funky synths and programmed percussion, but there seems to be some restraint. Instead of making electro-pop bangers, she sticks with timid melodies and Troye Sivan-esque production, save for the single “Don’t Leave Me on the Dancefloor.”

If Carly Rae Jepsen chose only one time of day for her album, preferably “day,” maybe it wouldn’t drag on so long. It still wouldn’t reach the artistic level of her magnum opus, “Emotion,” but condensing the album’s few engaging hooks would be more emblematic of the Carly I know and love.