Dedicated Side B

Carly Rae Jepsen threw her 2019 dance party <i>Dedicated</i> after writing some 200 songs focused on love, loss and longing. To celebrate that album’s one-year anniversary, she flipped 12 of its outtakes into <i>Dedicated Side B</i>, a synth-heavy, neon-lit celebration of pop's power to move bodies and tug at heartstrings. "This Love Isn't Crazy" has a scream-along chorus and a triumphantly whooped hook; "Let's Sort the Whole Thing Out" combines a peppy beat with detailed descriptions of love's fidgety early moments; and "Comeback", a collaboration with long-time Jepsen collaborator Jack Antonoff, is sumptuous and full of hope. The album's unexpected turns—the lightly funky "Window" pairs Jepsen's airy voice with a bouncing-ball bass, while "Now I Don't Hate California After All" transforms her into a music box dancer—show how Jepsen's approach to almost any strain of pop can result in magic.