Dedicated

DedicatedFourth studio album
Overview
Artist	Carly Rae Jepsen
Released	May 17th 2019
Recorded	2016–19
Length	42:23 Standard 48:30 Deluxe 56:39 Japanese edition
Genre	Pop • electropop • synth-pop disco • dance-pop
Label	604 • School Boy • Interscope
Singles
1. Party for One Released: November 1st 2018 2. Now That I Found You Released: February 27th 2019 3. No Drug Like Me Released: February 27th 2019 4. Julien Released: April 19th 2019 5. Too Much Released: May 9th 2019
Album Chronology
← Previous	Emotion Side B 2016 EP
Next →	Dedicated Side B 2020 Album

Dedicated is the fourth studio album from Carly Rae Jepsen. It was released on May 17th 2019 through 604, School Boy and Interscope.

The album serves as a follow-up to her 2015 record Emotion. Its first single, Party For One, was released on November 1st 2018.

Track listing

Standard track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	Julien	Carly Rae Jepsen • Kyle Shearer • Nate Cyphert • Benjamin Ruttner • Jared Manierka	Kyle Shearer	3:54
2.	No Drug Like Me	Jepsen • John Hill • Jordan Palmer • Daniel Ledinsky • James Flannigan	John Hill • Jordan Palmer	3:28
3.	Now That I Found You	Jepsen • Ben Berger • Ryan McMahon • Ryan Rabin • Alexander O'Neill	Captain Cuts • ayokay	3:20
4.	Want You In My Room	Jepsen • Tavish Crowe • Jack Antonoff	Jack Antonoff	2:46
5.	Everything He Needs	Jepsen • Harry Nilsson • CJ Baran • Ben Romans • Amanda Warner (MNDR)	CJ Baran • Ben Romans	3:38
6.	Happy Not Knowing	Jepsen • John Hill • Jordan Palmer • Tavish Crowe • Daniel Ledinsky	John Hill • Jordan Palmer	2:41
7.	I'll Be Your Girl	Jepsen • Patrik Berger • John Hill	Patrik Berger • John Hill	2:58
8.	Too Much	Jepsen • John Hill • Jordan Palmer • Noonie Bao	John Hill • Jordan Palmer	3:17
9.	The Sound	Jepsen • Jared Manierka • Tommy English • Noah Breakfast	Tommy English • Noah Breakfast	2:51
10.	Automatically In Love	Jepsen • John Hill • Rogét Chahayed • Nate Campany	John Hill • Rogét Chahayed	3:33
11.	Feels Right (feat. Electric Guest)	Jepsen • John Hill • Jordan Palmer • Asa Taccone • Matthew Compton	John Hill • Asa Taccone • Jordan Palmer	2:43
12.	Right Words Wrong Time	Jepsen • Alex Hope • Rogét Chahayed	Alex Hope • Rogét Chahayed	3:20
13.	Real Love	Jepsen • James Flannigan • Chris Whitehall	James Flannigan • Koz Alxndr • Jim Alxndr	3:54

Deluxe bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	For Sure	Jepsen • Patrik Berger • Noonie Bao • Pontus Winnberg	Patrik Berger • Pontus Winnberg	3:04
15.	Party for One	Jepsen • Anton Rundberg • Julia Karlsson • Tavish Crowe	Captain Cuts • Anton Rundberg	3:03

Japanese bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	Now That I Found You (Until Dawn Remix)	Jepsen • Ben Berger • Ryan McMahon • Ryan Rabin • Alexander O'Neill	Captain Cuts • ayokay • Until Dawn	5:23
17.	Party for One (More Giraffes Remix)	Jepsen • Anton Rundberg • Julia Karlsson • Tavish Crowe	Captain Cuts • Anton Rundberg • More Giraffes	2:46

Background

§ Full background history: Disco Sweat Writing and development

Early beginnings as Disco Sweat

Prior to the development of Dedicated, Jepsen's fourth studio album would be conceived in the form of the now-scrapped Disco Sweat project in late 2015, envisioned as a "understated disco" type of sound inspired primarily by ABBA and the Bee Gees. Work on Disco Sweat carried out through the end of 2015 and into mid-2016, though would ultimately be scrapped due to Jepsen considering the disco influence too constraining. She explained that "the idea of it being exclusively disco was sort of pigeonholing me, because it wasn’t coming out naturally."

Disco Sweat scrapped

In August 2016, Jepsen attended a writers camp in Nicaragua and reworked the original Disco Sweat demo of Julien she had written previously, into the version of the song that would see its eventual inclusion on Dedicated. Because of the song, Jepsen would decide on the new direction to take the project in and ultimately decide scrap Disco Sweat.

After this point, work commenced on what would eventually become Dedicated. Although the project as a whole was shelved, various songs from the initial Disco Sweat sessions would be further reworked for Dedicated and its B-Side between 2016 and 2019. Jepsen states that after scrapping Disco Sweat, she was going to "allow herself to play in all the genres of pop" that she was interested in, specifically drawing influences from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, not just disco, stating she "let go of the rules" in knowing exactly what she was going to make.

Writing and development

§ Dedicated development timeline: Dedicated (album) / Timeline

The writing process for Dedicated would take place between 2016 and 2019, where over 200 songs were written for the album in "varying stages of completed-ness". Carly states she had written 50-something songs for the project by May 2017, with the total increasing to 80 by October of that year, and again increasing to around 100 songs by April 2018.

Carly explained that, going into Dedicated, she wasn't exactly sure what kind of album she wanted to make, but knew she didn't want to "re-do Emotion all over again." She decided to spend time travelling and create as much new material as possible, experimenting with different sounds until she landed on something that felt right.

Julien and For Sure were among the first tracks written for Dedicated, between July and August 2016 in Nicaragua and Sweden respectively. The early writing sessions in Sweden would also see songs such as Party For One and Fake Mona Lisa recorded around this time, with the songs detailing Jepsen's breakup with ex-boyfriend David Larkins. In August 2017, Carly wrote Now That I Found You after attending the Neon Gold writing camp in Nicaragua for a second year. Album tracks The Sound and Real Love were also among the songs written during the Nicaragua sessions, with the latter being a song Jepsen worked on with her then-boyfriend James Flannigan in the early stages of their relationship.

Carly's relationship with Flannigan would lead to the creation of songs such as No Drug Like Me and the album's scrapped title-track. Between 2017 and 2018, Jepsen met with producer Jack Antonoff in the studio to work on Want You In My Room and B-side tracks This Love Isn't Crazy and Comeback. Throughout the development of Dedicated, Jepsen worked closely with producers John Hill and Jordan Palmer, who made contributions like No Drug Like Me and Happy Not Knowing, written in October 2017, and Too Much, written in May 2018. Dedicated also saw contributions from producers Alex Hope, Rogét Chahayed, Koz and Jim Alxndr, and Daniel Zaidenstadt, amongst others.

In July 2018, it appears Carly was gearing up for a potential earlier release of the album. The Dedicated album photoshoot took place on July 16th 2018 with Natalie O'Moore, and several mixes of were bounced by John Hill between July 12th and 13th. A rumoured early draft track list of the album from July 2018 is known to exist.

In November 2018, Carly released the album's lead single Party For One, though development on Dedicated continued until March 2019. Carly stated how instrumental John Hill was to the project later in its development, completing the songs I'll Be Your Girl, Automatically In Love, Summer Love, and Feels Right between late 2018 to early 2019.

Track list finalisation

The process of narrowing down the 200 songs Carly had written for Dedicated, into just fifteen, would take place through a series of track list revisions, influenced by her own opinion and the feedback of friends, family, and her bandmates in a series of listening parties.

Carly explained that the "top six to eight songs" would arise from the listening parties. She also explained how Julien acted as a benchmark song during this process, and helped in identifying other contenders for the album, "that confidence [about Julien] helped me know when I had that feeling about other songs."

In January 2019, Jepsen shared that she had narrowed down a list of her favourite contenders for the album and decided on the order of the track listing. A behind-the-scenes video, recorded in February 2019, shows a draft track-listing with an alternate song order. Everything He Needs was the last song to make the cut for the album, as sample clearance for the song was received just a week before the album was due, in March 2019.

Draft track listing

• February 2019
• July 2018

§ Incomplete draft track listing as of February 2019, prior to the inclusion of Everything He Needs

1. Julien
2. No Drug Like Me
3. Happy Not Knowing
4. Want You In My Room
5. Now That I Found You
6. For Sure
7. Real Love
8. Automatically In Love
9. Feels Right
10. I'll Be Your Girl
11. The Sound
12. (...)

§ Rumoured draft track listing as of July 2018

1. Julien
2. No Drug Like Me
3. Too Much
4. Automatically In Love
5. Now That I Found You
6. Feels Right
7. I'll Be Your Girl
8. The Sound
9. Want You In My Room
10. Real Love
11. Happy Not Knowing
12. For Sure

Album title

Jepsen says it took a while to land on the album's title, though, for a time, the project was being developed under the working 'half-joking' title of Music To Clean Your House To inspired by her own music listening habits, "I thought, that’s when I listen to music at this age."

In a similar vein, the album was also known as Music To Dance To In Your Living Room Versus The Club at one point, because Jepsen states she was "hoping to create that sort of connection and joy" and explained, "it’s just how I digest music, I think where I am in my life, it’s less about wanting to go to a club all night."

The actual title of the album, Dedicated, would eventually be decided upon after Jepsen wrote a song of the same name for her then-boyfriend, James Flannigan, soon after they had began their relationship in the summer of 2017. Although the song was cut from the album, the name stuck around, and Jepsen explained that this was because "it still really explores the theme of what I was going through in life and what a lot of these songs were about - through a break-up, and singlehood, and even a new something - and what it would mean for me to kind of fully commit myself." Carly also explained, "I’m a sucker for a one-word title so I knew I would like it if there was simplicity but also strength behind it."

Announcement and release

Since the end of 2017 and throughout 2018, Jepsen would begin to tease that new music was on the way. Ultimately, the first glimpse of her then-upcoming album would materialise with its lead single Party for One in November 2018. With the release of the song came the first information regarding the album, with an expected release date of sometime in 2019. Likewise, with the release of Now That I Found You, the album was given new release window sometime in the summer. Dedicated was officially announced by Jepsen through social media on April 1st 2019 and set to be released a month later on May 17th 2019.

Release history

Country	Date	Edition	Format	Label
Various	May 17th 2019	Standard Deluxe	CD Digital Streaming Cassette tape	604 School Boy Interscope
	July 12th 2019	Standard	Vinyl

Album cover

Announcement and reveal

Upon its initial announcement in April 2019, Dedicated's album cover was still yet to be revealed and a placeholder image was being used for the time-being. The official album cover would be unveiled on April 18th, alongside the official track listing, as pre-orders for the album went live. The album cover photoshoot took place on July 16th 2018.

Composition and purpose

The album cover for Dedicated decidedly features Jepsen shirtless with her back towards the camera, her head turned away. Jepsen explained this was the result of, in her eyes, a woman's body and face being a "big selling point" in pop music, and something she disliked; it was as a purposeful statement against that belief. Jepsen states she had to argue with her label not to appear in close-up on the album cover.

Singles

Party For One

Party For One would serve as the album's lead single, releasing on November 1st, 2018 through 604, School Boy, and Interscope Records. Despite this, the song would only appear on the deluxe version of the album upon release.

Now That I Found You / No Drug Like Me

Now That I Found You was originally announced as the album's second single, in partnership with Netflix and Queer Eye, set to release on February 27th, 2019. On February 25th, Jepsen announced No Drug Like Me would also release alongside the song and the pair would now be issued as a double-single instead, serving as Dedicated's second and third singles respectively.

Julien

Julien is the album's first and only promotional single, released on April 19th, 2019 as a digital download alongside the pre-order for Dedicated. The song would also be made available on streaming platforms that same day.

Too Much

Too Much would serve as Dedicated's final single, preceding the album. The track was released on May 9th, 2019, alongside the album's previous singles now collected together in a single extended-play on streaming services. Dedicated would release a week later on May 17th, 2019.

Critical reception

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.4/10
Metacritic	79/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Consequence of Sound	B
Exclaim!	8/10
The Guardian
The Independent
The Irish Times
NME
Pitchfork	7.3/10
Rolling Stone
The Times

Dedicated received generally favourable reviews from publications, with Metacritic reporting an overall rating of 79 based on 22 critical reviews.

Heather Phares of AllMusic gave Dedicated a rating of 4 and a half stars out of five, writing that 'Jepsen is just as committed to her music as she is to the ideal of true love, and the way she's grown without sacrificing her uniqueness makes. Dedicated is a master class in what a 2010s pop album can be.'

Laura Snapes of The Guardian gave a rating of 4 stars out of five, stating that 'Jepsen leaves a stronger impression: swooning into the gently funky Julien; seductively in control on the looser No Drug Like Me; cheeky as Cyndi Lauper on Want You in My Room'.

Pitchfork rated the album a 7.3, with reviewer Anna Gaca writing 'Jepsen is doing what she does best, calibrating lovesick or lovelorn synthpop that’s neither too hot nor too cold—and sometimes, regrettably, only lukewarm.'

Gallery

• § Visit the Dedicated gallery: Gallery
• § Visit the Dedicated photoshoot gallery: Photoshoot Gallery

Album covers

Standard / Deluxe

Unused version

Placeholder version

Deluxe back cover

Album booklet

Special thanks

“	So many people to thank but I have to start by thanking the listeners and fans. You’ve made my life one great big adventure and I couldn’t be more excited to dedicate this album to you. I also want to thank my parents and my brother and sister for always fueling my passion for music from day one. To my bandmates Tavish Crowe, Nik Pesut, Adam Siska, Jared Manierka and our whole touring crew thanks for always making travel and tour life such a blast. Tavish Crowe, thanks for answering my calls nine times a day. I promise I only have two more questions. To Jenna Lightner, you complete me. Tony and Alex Marino, you’ve always been there for me when I needed you the most. James Flannigan, thanks for inspiring many of the songs on this album. Privacy is overrated baby. Laura Hess, you’re a superstar and I’m so lucky to have you in my corner. Thank you for working passionately and tirelessly on this project. John Ehmann, this album could not have been created without you. From Stockholm to Nicaragua, New York to LA, you offered me every opportunity to follow each musical curiosity that I had. Sam Riback, thanks for helping carry this album over the finish line. Michelle An, thank you for caring the way do and working your ass off to make all the wild ideas come to life, even the crazy cat ones. Thank you David Kalani Larkins for filming and creating so much new content for this album. Your constant flow of cool ideas amazes me! To my collaborators and friends thanks for sharing some of the best nights, staying up past the wee hours, and helping me create this album. To the rest of the dream team, thanks for all you do!	”
–Carly Rae Jepsen, 2019

Album credits

Writing and production

• Carly Rae Jepsen - songwriting (all tracks)
• Kyle Shearer - songwriting, production (1)
• Nate Cyphert - songwriting (1)
• Ben Ruttner - songwriting (1)
• Jared Manierka - songwriting (1, 9)
• John Hill - songwriting, production (2, 6-8, 10, 11)
• Jordan Palmer - songwriting, production (2, 6, 8, 11); vocal production (6, 11)
• Daniel Ledinsky - songwriting (2, 6)
• James Flannigan - songwriting (2, 13); production, vocal production (13)
• Ben Berger - songwriting (3); production (3, 15)
• Ryan Rabin - songwriting (3); production (3, 15)
• Ryan McMahon - songwriting (3); production (3, 15)
• Alexander O'Neill - songwriting, additional production (3)
• Tavish Crowe - songwriting (4, 6)
• Jack Antonoff - songwriting, production (4)
• Harry Nilsson - songwriting (5)
• CJ Baran - songwriting, production (5)
• Ben Romans - songwriting, production (5)
• Amanda Warner - songwriting (5)

• Patrik Berger - songwriting, production (7, 14)
• Noonie Bao - songwriting (8, 14)
• Rob Cohen - vocal production (8, 10)
• Tommy English - songwriting, production (9)
• Noah Breakfast - songwriting, production (9)
• Rogét Chahayed - songwriting, production (10, 12)
• Nate Campany - songwriting (10)
• Asa Taccone - songwriting, production (11)
• Matthew Compton - songwriting, production (11)
• Alex Hope - songwriting, production, vocal production (12)
• Chris Whitehall - songwriting (13)
• Koz Alxndr - additional production (13)
• Jim Alxndr - additional production (13)
• Daniel Zaidenstadt - vocal production (13)
• Pontus Winnberg - songwriting, production (14)
• Anton Runberg - songwriting, production (15)
• Julia Karlsson - songwriting, vocal production (15)

Performance

• Carly Rae Jepsen - vocals (all tracks); background vocals (15)
• Nate Cyphert - background vocals (1)
• Ben Berger - background vocals (3)
• Ryan Rabin - background vocals (3)
• Ryan McMahon - background vocals (3)
• Asa Taccone - vocals (11)
• Noonie Bao - background vocals (14)
• Julia Karlsson - background vocals (15)

Instrumentation

• Kyle Shearer - instrumentation (1)
• John Hill - guitar (2, 6-8, 11); drums (2, 6-8); keyboards (2, 6, 8, 10-11); synthesiser (6, 8); bass (6, 8, 11); percussion (6); horns (11)
• Jordan Palmer - guitar, bass, synthesiser (2, 6, 8); drums, keyboards (2, 6, 8, 11); percussion (6)
• Jack Antonoff - instrumentation (4)
• Evan Smith - saxophone (4)
• Ben Romans - keyboard (5)
• Amanda Warner - bass (5)
• Patrik Berger - bass, guitar, drums (7); instrumentation (14)
• James King - saxophone (7)
• Noah Breakfast - piano (9)
• Rogét Chahayed - keyboards (10, 12); piano (10)
• Electric Guest - piano, percussion, guitars, keyboards (11)
• Alex Hope - keyboards, bass (12)
• Jim Alexandr - saxophone (13)
• Pontus Winnberg - instrumentation (14)
• Anton Runberg - keyboards, drums, instrumentation, arrangement (15)
• Ben Berger - keyboards, drums, instrumentation, arrangement (15)
• Ryan Rabin - keyboards, drums, instrumentation, arrangement (15)
• Ryan McMahon - keyboards, drums, instrumentation, arrangement (15)

Technical

• Șerban Ghenea - mixing (1-4, 14-15)
• Gene Grimaldi - mastering (1, 4-6, 8-9, 11-14)
• John Hanes - engineering (1-2, 4)
• John Hill - programming (2, 6-8, 10-11)
• Rob Cohen - engineering (2, 6-8, 10)
• John Hanes - engineering (2, 3, 14-15)
• Chris Gehringer - mastering (2, 7, 10)
• David Kutch - mastering (3)
• Ben Berger - engineering (3); programming (15)
• Ryan Rabin - engineering (3); programming (15)
• Ryan McMahon - engineering (3); programming (15)
• Jack Antonoff - programming (4)
• Laura Sisk - engineering (4)
• CJ Baran - programming, engineering (5)
• Mitch McCarthy - mixing (5)
• John Castelli - mixing (6-8, 10)
• Jordan Palmer - programming (6, 8)
• Blake Mares - engineering (6-8, 10-11)
• Ingmar Carlson - mix engineering (6-8, 10)
• Tony Maserati - mixing (9)
• Miles Comaskey - mix assistance (9)
• Alex Hope - programming (12)
• Rogét Chahayed - programming (12)
• Josh Gudwin - mixing (12)
• Elijah Merritt-Hitch - mix assistance (12)
• Dan Grech-Marguerat - mixing (13)
• James Flannigan - programming (13)
• Koz Alxndr - programming (13)
• Jim Alxndr - programming (13)
• Patrik Berger - programming (14)
• Pontus Winnberg - programming (14)

Overview credits

• Gretchen Anderson - production
• Tavish Crowe - musical director
• Amy Davis - creative director
• Dina Hovsepian - art director

Album cover credits

• Dina Hovsepian - album cover design
• Natalie O'Moore - album cover photography
• Markus & Koala - additional album photography
• Hayley Atkin - styling

Navigation

• Discography

Discography

The Loveliest Time • 2023

The Loneliest Time • 2022

Dedicated
Side B • 2020

Dedicated
2019

Emotion
Side B • 2016

Emotion
2015

Kiss
2012

Curiosity
2012

Tug of War
2008

References