The companion albums Carly Rae Jepsen issues shortly after her major releases don't just give her fans more music to love -- they let her go beyond the boundaries of the works that spawned them. On The Loveliest Time, she turns the title of The Loneliest Time, and its heartache, on its head. Jepsen can't stay down for too long, and aside from her moody, string-laden acknowledgment of former loves on "Put It to Rest," she embodies the joy she was searching for on her previous album. She's got a song for just about every kind of love: With its skipping rhythm and breathy vocals, "Weekend Love" lives up to its name. When shouting from rooftops isn't enough, there's "Stadium Love," where she backs the head-over-heels choruses with arena-sized beats and a sizzling guitar solo. Though Jepsen is known for her songs about love at first sight, she's getting her groove back on the slinky, whispery disco of "Shy Boy," one of The Loveliest Time's brightest highlights -- and one of her sexiest songs yet. She balances gorgeous, heart-tugging pop songs like the Rostam Batmanglij-produced "Shadow" and "After Last Night" with more daring moves like "Anything to Be with You." A fresh-sounding mix of hip-hop-tinged beats, spiky guitars, and saxophone, it's a reminder of how good she sounds when she steps outside of her '70s- and '80s-inspired comfort zone. As much as she changes things up, Jepsen always has one foot on the dancefloor, and The Loveliest Time boasts some of her most kinetic songs in some time. She injects synth pop drama into "Kamikaze" and delivers blissful filter disco with "Psychedelic Switch," one of many moments on the album where she makes The Loneliest Time's fantasies come to life. Never less than sweet and engaging, The Loveliest Time may not be as ambitious as its predecessor, but when it comes to Jepsen's lighter-than-air pop, it just might be more consistent.
| A1 | Anything To Be With You |
| A2 | Kamikaze |
| A3 | After Last Night |
| A4 | Aeroplanes |
| A5 | Shy Boy |
| A6 | Kollage |
| B1 | Shadow |
| B2 | Psychedelic Switch |
| B3 | So Right |
| B4 | Come Over |
| B5 | Put It To Rest |
| B6 | Stadium Love |
