Carly Rae Jepsen’s new single ‘Warm Blood’ is like a cupcake for your ears
It’s no secret that we’re literally counting down the days until Carly Rae Jepsen’s new album Emotion drops stateside (FYI, that’ll be August 20), but her new single “Warm Blood” dropped over the weekend and it’s been giving us life ever since.
Everything we’ve heard from Emotion so far has traded on Jepsen’s trademark wide-eyed wonder, but Warm Blood turns the direction of her gaze inward — “Let down my guard tonight / I just don’t care anymore,” belying the extreme care she must be feeling to sing the song at all. Whereas “I Really Like You” was totally transparent, “Warm Blood” is coy; whereas “All That” was languid, “Warm Blood” thrums with energy; whereas “Emotion” was dramatic, “Warm Blood” is even more dramatic; whereas “Run Away With Me” was freedom from hiding her feelings, “Warm Blood” is Jepsen struggling to keep a mask of coolness on — one that ultimately doesn’t hold. “Warm blood feels good / I can’t control it anymore,” Jepsen breathily intones, and both she and you the listener are goners.
Filtered vocals can easily sound cheesy, but on “Warm Blood,” they’re set against a background electro pulse that gives even the tinniest sounds a more organic feeling. As the song unspools into the bridge, the production gives way to a glittering, suspended cushion of silence behind Jepsen’s vocals. It’s simultaneously seductive and sweet in its surrender — “Catch me when I’m falling for you,” and then the Vampire Weekend-esque background breakdown carries you home.
Related reading:
Carly Rae Jepsen’s best song now has a music video
Carly Rae Jepsen and 6 other artists who seriously conquered the sophomore slump
Why Does Carly Rae Jepsen Want To Destroy Me?
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