Just a few days ago, Carly Rae Jepsen announced her most ambitious project yet, and the pop communities all over the internet are already losing their minds over it.
Day and Night, a 24-track double album, is set for release on September 18th via Interscope Records. The first single, “On Wires,” it out today (listen here). For a fanbase that has been waiting patiently through a quieter chapter of Jepsen’s life (she recently got married and welcomed her first child in the years since her last release) this announcement was a very welcome surprise.
The Single
The first single is out now, and it sounds exactly like the opening track of a Carly Rae Jepsen album should. The verses are quintessential CRJ. Quick, breathy synth pop delivered with that slightly dizzy romantic energy she does better than anyone, before opening into a chorus that is, by design, aggressively simple. Jepsen herself described it as a “come hither song,” explaining that the chorus is just her repeating “I want you” because that’s genuinely all she can think about. Heard in that context, what might read as repetitive becomes the point entirely.
The music video, out now alongside the single, features a visibly pregnant Jepsen walking through an empty restaurant and around town, singing into a microphone throughout. It’s understated and warm, and there’s something moving about watching her return to the spotlight at this particular moment in her life.
The New Album
Day and Night is exactly what it sounds like. Twelve songs for day, twelve songs for night, two distinct themes and styles released together as one complete statement. The Day side leans organic and raw, and is built on live instrumentation with a psychedelic 70s-influenced pop sensibility. The Night side shifts into sleek, synth-driven dance pop territory, exploratory and intense. Together they hit across a full range of emotions: joy, fear, love, anxiety, escapist fantasy, all across a single cohesive listen. Jepsen’s music has always leaned towards disco and synth sounds, creating a nostalgic feel to her music. With this new album, she’s fully embracing that.
Jepsen worked with her core team of collaborators including Tavish Crowe, Kyle Shearer, Nate Cyphert, and Cole M.G.N., describing the album’s central feeling as “a blurred, dreamlike sense of time where nights stretch into mornings and days dissolve into nights, creating a feeling of being suspended inside a moment”
What makes this announcement particularly notable is the format. Jepsen has essentially made a double album every single time she’s released music, just not all at once. Emotion and Emotion Side B. Dedicated and Dedicated Side B. The Loneliest Time and The Loveliest Time. This time she’s simply admitting upfront what everyone already knew: she made enough music for two albums and she’s giving it to you at the same time.
The Artist
Carly Rae Jepsen occupies a genuinely unusual position in pop music. She had one of the biggest songs of the 21st century in “Call Me Maybe,” a track that topped charts in 47 countries and earned two Grammy nominations. She then proceeded to spend the next decade building a catalog that her most devoted fans will tell you matters far more than any single hit. E•MO•TION, released in 2015, has accumulated over a billion streams and earned a kind of critical retrospective reverence typically reserved for classic rock albums. Pitchfork rated is a rare 8.4/10 and Billboard named it one of the defining albums of the decade. Dedicated followed in 2019 to similarly rapturous reception, with The Atlantic calling it brilliant. Casual music listeners might know her best from “Call Me Maybe,” but those who have taken the time to listen to her other music realize she’s very well regarded as a staple in the synth-pop world.
Her fanbase on r/popheads borders on the devotional. The ongoing fan campaign to get her a sword at every show, which has succeeded at various points and generated a genuinely unhinged and wonderful amount of internet content, is an indicator of how her dedicated community operates. A Carly Rae Jepsen album announcement is more than your average album drop. To her dedicated fanbase, this is a big cause to celebrate.
The Live Debut
Jepsen will headline the all-female All Things Go Festival in New York City on September 27th, with a full sunset set on a day that also features MUNA and The Beaches. This will be just nine days after the album drops, marking her first live performance of 2026 and first performances of the new songs. For fans who have been waiting through a quieter period that included major life milestones for the artist, getting a festival performance in addition to the new release just feels like bonus material.
“On Wires” drops out today. Day and Night drops September 18th (pre-save here).
Featured Photo Credit: Vince Aung
Nathan Smith is a Providence-based music photographer and journalist focusing on capturing the special moments and unfiltered magic of live performances. Whether he’s shooting established artists at sold-out TD Garden shows or documenting the rise of emerging local bands, his goal is the same: to pull viewers directly into the heart of the moment.
His writing spotlights rising artists and local scenes, with a focus on telling the stories that often get overlooked. A lifelong music fan and musician himself, Nathan approaches interviews and portraits as conversations rather than transactions, building trust with artists so their genuine personalities can shine through. Whether he’s backstage, in the photo pit, or at home in front of the keyboard, he brings the same curiosity and care to every assignment.
Outside of his press work with Juice Box Press, Nathan works regularly as a photographer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous bands in the Boston and Providence area. Nathan also plays violin with a local orchestra, follows Celtics basketball almost religiously, and is an avid fantasy reader.