Dedicated Side B

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Dedicated Side B
Studio album

Overview

Artist

Carly Rae Jepsen

Released

May 21st 2020

Recorded

2016 – 2019

Length

43:24 Standard

49:49 Japanese edition

Genre

Pop • electropop • disco
synth-pop • dance-pop

Label

604 • School Boy • Interscope

Singles

1. Let's Be Friends ⊺
Released: February 7th 2020

2. This Love Isn't Crazy ⊺
Released: May 21st 2020
3. Summer Love ⊺
Released: August 5th 2020

Album Chronology
← Previous	Next →
Dedicated 2019 Album	The Loneliest Time 2022 Album

Dedicated Side B is a studio album from Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen. It was released on May 21st 2020 through 604, School Boy and Interscope Records.

The project serves as a companion piece to Jepsen's previous release, Dedicated, and features a collection of outtakes that failed to make the cut for the original album.

Track listing[]

Standard track listing[]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	This Love Isn't Crazy	Carly Rae Jepsen • Jack Antonoff	Jack Antonoff	3:53
2.	Window	Jepsen • Tyler Duncan • Theo Katzman	Tyler Duncan • Theo Katzman	3:18
3.	Felt This Way	Jepsen • Tavish Crowe • Jakob Hazell • Svante Halldin • Jordan Palmer • John Hill	Jordan Palmer • John Hill	3:37
4.	Stay Away	Jepsen • Tavish Crowe • Jakob Hazell • Svante Halldin	Jack & Coke	3:37
5.	This Is What They Say	Jepsen • Sean Douglas • Devonté Hynes • Tavish Crowe • Warren Oak Felder	OAK - Warren Oak Felder	3:34
6.	Heartbeat	Jepsen • Noah Breakfast • Asia Whiteacre • Ariel Rechtshaid	Buddy Ross • Ariel Rechtshaid	4:13
7.	Summer Love	Jepsen • Patrik Berger • John Hill • Dave Palmer • Daniel Ledinsky	Patrik Berger • John Hill	3:16
8.	Fake Mona Lisa	Jepsen • Tavish Crowe • Julia Karlsson • Anton Rundberg	Hightower - Anton Rundberg	2:12
9.	Let's Sort The Whole Thing Out	Jepsen • Markus Krunegård • Patrik Berger • Pontus Winnberg	Patrik Berger • Pontus Winnberg	3:54
10.	Comeback (feat. Bleachers)	Jepsen • Jack Antonoff • Jared Manierka	Jack Antonoff	3:44
11.	Solo	Jepsen • James Flannigan • Nate Campany	James Flannigan	3:16
12.	Now I Don't Hate California After All	Jepsen • Pontus Winnberg • Patrik Berger • Noonie Bao • Markus Krunegård	Pontus Winnberg • Patrik Berger	4:53

Japanese bonus tracks[]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	Let's Be Friends	Jepsen • Ben Romans • CJ Baran	Ben Romans • CJ Baran	3:10
14.	Always On My Mind	Jepsen • Ben Romans • CJ Baran	Ben Romans • CJ Baran	3:15

Background[]

§ Main article: Dedicated Writing and development

During the development of Dedicated, Jepsen would write over 200 songs for the album between 2016 and 2019. Although just fifteen of these tracks would see a release on the album, Dedicated Side B would feature an additional fourteen songs that failed to make the original cut.

Jepsen states, from very early on, she always had the intention to release Dedicated as a 'two-part' album in the vein of Emotion and Emotion Side B. She explained, 'it gives you a little bit of perspective on what should come first and what should come second. It was easier to narrow down the first part because I knew was going to get to share a lot more songs.'

Writing and development[]

Jepsen would begin brainstorming ideas for Dedicated Side B as early as the release night of Dedicated in May 2019, coming up with the first revision of the track list and sending it to her manager, who advised her to celebrate the album launch instead. In December 2019, Jepsen says there were a total of 20 songs in consideration for the album. According to insiders, the majority of songs on the album were written in 2017 with further changes and adjustments made later. Jepsen states the development of Dedicated Side B was 'very fun' as it was her most experimental album. ^[1]

Track listing alterations[]

Jepsen states she didn't stray 'too far' from the original May 2019 track list, though This Love Isn't Crazy and Solo were later additions, only added after the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Jepsen explained how she wanted a song to embody a 'welcome party to escapism' during quarantine and decided that This Love Isn't Crazy was most fitting to open the album, describing that it was an addition made at the last minute. Regarding Solo, Jepsen says 'being in lockdown, it felt very appropriate to have an uplifting song about being alone.' Originally, the album was only meant to have 11 songs but this was increased to 12 with the addition of Solo.

Allegedly, Love & Paranoia was reportedly considered for release as part of Dedicated Side B, though was ultimately scrapped; the Dedicated title track was also in consideration as the closing song of the album at one point, though this never materialised. Jepsen also stated prior to release she wasn't sure if Let's Be Friends would be included on the album or not. Ultimately, the song is featured as a deluxe track on the Japanese exclusive bonus edition.

Additionally, Jepsen explained there was less feedback from her friends, family, and bandmates on selecting the songs for the album, in comparison to Dedicated and Emotion where she held multiple listening parties and revised the track list numerous times. 'I really just went with my gut, like, 'These are the songs that feel right. Don't overthink it. Don't throw a bunch of listening parties and get confused by the end of the night.' I wasn't given the luxury of overthinking it so much. This was a lot less painful of a process.'

Final developments during quarantine[]

During the last stages of development on the album in early 2020, Jepsen says there was 'a bit of polishing' left to do and stated it was beneficial to have a 'focused project' everyday at this time during quarantine. She explained how the mixing and mastering process took place remotely over the internet, due to quarantine and lockdown restrictions; 'it was tricky to do mixes when you don't have people in the same sound room. I was really happy to get it done, but it was a bit more of a challenge than any other release has been for me.'

Original working title[]

Originally, Jepsen was hesitant to name the album Dedicated Side B in fear it would make the songs on the album seem inferior to the ones on the original record. She stated, 'I am hesitant to call it a Side B because I feel like the songs that I am ready to share I love equally as much as the other side, and Side B is almost like a derogatory term. ‘These are like the extras I wasn’t considering,’ which is a lie because I fully intended on sharing them from the get go.'

Prior to release, Jepsen would refer to the project as a 'part two' to Dedicated, and Dedicated Part Two would be the official working title up until at least March 2020. According to insiders, the album also had an alternative working title at one point, seemingly unrelated to the Dedicated title, and an additional scrapped title track.

Announcement and release[]

Carly teased the release of Dedicated Side B on May 17th 2020, the first anniversary of Dedicated; she posted a video to social media, which ended in a singular letter 'B' remaining on screen from the phrase 'happy birthday Dedicated.' On May 20th 2020, the album was officially confirmed through a social media video of fan requests.

Dedicated Side B was released on May 21st 2020 through 604, School Boy, and Interscope. The album would see a digital-first global surprise release, a first for Jepsen, at midnight New Zealand local time.

“	So, yes there have been whispers and I'm bad at keeping secrets. Side B for DEDICATED is out now babies and I couldn't be more thrilled to share these tunes. I hope it makes it yah dance your pants off! Thank you for all the joy you shared with me on this last year of touring. I owe yah one...or like two albums turns out. ;) For the record, I love all of you.	”
–Carly Rae Jepsen, 2020

Dedicated Side B was physically released on vinyl record, CDs, and cassette later on June 12th across most regions. The Japanese edition, with bonus tracks Always On My Mind and Let's Be Friends was released on June 17th 2020.

Release history[]


Country	Date	Edition	Format	Label
Various	May 21st 2020	Standard	Digital Streaming	604 School Boy Interscope
Various	June 12th 2020	Standard	CD Vinyl Cassette tape	604 School Boy Interscope
Japan	June 17th 2020	Japanese	CD	Universal

Album cover[]

The album cover for Dedicated Side B mirrors that of Dedicated, by showing the reverse side to Jepsen in the composition. Whilst the cover art for Dedicated shows Jepsen facing away from the camera, a deliberate choice on her half, she's showing standing facing the camera on Dedicated Side B, with her head turned away.

The image used for the album art had previously been featured in the CD release of Dedicated, printed on the back of inlet booklet. The design of the album cover had been tweaked from the original photo, with the lighting adjusted and text included over the top of the image. The album cover was designed by Dina Hovsepian and photographed by Natalie O'Moore. ^[2]^[3]

Singles[]

Let's Be Friends[]

Although not intended as an official single from the album, Let's Be Friends preceded the release of Dedicated Side B, on February 7th 2020. It would later be reissued as the thirteenth track on the Japanese bonus edition of Dedicated Side B in June 2020.

This Love Isn't Crazy[]

Whilst This Love Isn't Crazy was also never made a single in any official capacity, the song received an official YouTube lyric video upon release - the only song of the album to do so, and was promoted through streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. The song is considered the lead single of the project, though this was never made official.

Summer Love[]

Similarly, Summer Love was not released as a single from the album but would receive an official visualizer on August 5th 2020, again the only song from the album to do so.

Critical reception[]

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.6/10 ^[4]
Metacritic	79/100 ^[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Consequence of Sound	B– ^[7]
Exclaim!	8/10 ^[8]
NME	^[9]
Our Culture Mag	^[10]
Pitchfork	6.9/10 ^[11]
Slant	^[12]
Sputnikmusic	^[13]

Dedicated Side B received generally favourable reviews from publications, with Metacritic reporting an overall rating of 79 based on seven critical reviews. ^[6]

The album was praised for its song-writing and infectious hooks and melodies. Angela Morris of Exclaim! commended Jepsen for her experimentation into new sounds, whilst Natalia Barr stated such tracks could have been benefital additions to Dedicated. ^[8]^[7]

Likewise, many critics also had noted that, despite being outtakes, the collection of songs on the album were up to par, if not better, than that of the main album. Ali Shuttler noted that Dedicated Side B 'is the sort of record that most acts could only dream of making.' ^[9]

Sputnik Music described that Dedicated Side B may 'quite possibly be the best Carly Rae Jespen release' so far. ^[13]