Music Review

Patrick Much

     I thought “teen pop” artists couldn’t get more original, more meaningful, and more powerful with their music. But I was wrong because there now seems to be a new trend happening with these artists that is truly revolutionary: that is, having a singer who’s producing an album of her own songs be the “featured” singer for two or three of the songs while some other person sings the songs for them.

     Not only will it be less work for the singer who actually makes the album, but especially if the “guest” singer is famous, it will also mean more money for that person. I’m sorry; I meant to say it would tighten the camaraderie between these artists because, as we all know, the recording industry is never about how much money anyone makes; everything is for the spirit of producing quality music.

     If this doesn’t seem like a new trend happening with a multitude of artists, it is certainly evident in the new album Kiss by teen pop sensation person-who-everyone-says-is-amazing-because-she-made-that-one-really-good-song, Carly Rae Jepsen. This lovely and fair and utterly talented singer-songwriter was able to, in the face of adversity of the music business, produce one the greatest albums I have ever heard in my entire life simply by her raw musical ability and deep, lyrical meanings.

     Also, she’s pretty, but it’s mostly her music. How can someone not love a 26-year-old who sounds 16 and sings about happy, teenage dealings such as love, attractive members of the opposite sex, or living a good life instead of those hard issues such as depression, drug abuse, or pregnancy?

     While there many songs featured on Kiss, the most popular of all of them is “Call Me Maybe,” a world-famous tune that tells the exciting story of a girl, who we know nothing about, asks a guy, who we also know nothing about, to call her about… something. The song doesn’t specify what this girl wants this guy to call about and, frankly, I don’t want to know. The ambiguity of it adds to its longevity.

     I also saw the return of the second greatest music-artist-producer-singer-person in the world (behind Miss Jepsen herself): Adam Young, or Owl City, with the track “Good Time,” which is still the greatest song ever written by someone who, as stated in my previous music review, spends his days with Prince songs stuck in his head and finds enjoyment in hailing a cab.

     Justin Bieber makes an appearance on the Kiss album on the track “Beautiful.” I’m going to be very blunt, this one left me speechless.

     Overall, this was a brilliantly-crafted album that is sure to live through the annals of music history similar to that of Michael Jackson’s Thriller or Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon; everything about it shouts masterpiece: the repeated lyrics, same-sounding music, featured singers that seem to sing the entire song on their own. This is an artistic landmark that I’m sure to keep forever. Oh, there were nine other tracks on this album I failed to mention, so I’ll summarize them briefly here: they’re good.