There were so many things I wanted to say to Carly Rae Jepsen. First is the fact that NPR called her a “smart musician” for striving to expand the idea of what “pop can sound like.” There, too, was Vulture’s assertion that the 29-year-old’s latest album “E-Mo-Tion” — the title is deliberately broken into syllables — does ’80s throwbacks better than Taylor Swift’s “1989.”
But the most memorable interview questions, from experience, are the ones with a personal connection. So as the Canadian pop star sat inches away from me, I mustered the courage to tell her that most of the writers in this section, myself included, have deemed “E-Mo-Tion” (and its winsome grafting of ’80s-era effervescence and 21st century production flourishes) her Scandi-pop moment. Less bubblegum and more refined sugar, tracks such as I Didn’t Just Come Here To Dance wouldn’t sound out of sync at all played alongside Robyn’s Dancing On My Own. “Tell your friends they’re cool!” she said, looking like a human Heart Eyes Emoji. I think I might have won her over.
I then confessed that I saw her at the hotel fitness center earlier that day and wondered what she listened to as she ran on the treadmill. “If you follow me on Instagram I posted a disco-inspired song that was done in a new way,” said the singer, referring to one of the tracks on Tame Impala’s “Currents,” something her boyfriend had shared with her.
One Night Only
The wonderful thing about attending a music event such as MTV World Stage Malaysia, now in its seventh year, is that you can catch a glimpse of performers you probably won’t get to see in the same place at the same time. During a brief chat with Jason Derulo, I found out that the Miami-born singer — now also a judge on So You Think You Can Dance — was crazy about a dance style called animation, which requires rigid movements as if one had been brought to life frame by frame.
Recorded live for global telecast, the one-night-only outdoor event also makes it a point to feature rising Asian artists. Malaysia’s #MostWanted local act, Stacy opened the night and had the crowd dancing to Not For Sale featuring local rapper Altimet. Sekai No Owari made their Southeast Asian debut, too, kicking off with Anti-Hero from the Attack on Titan soundtrack. It was my first time to hear of the Japanese band and they seem to have a penchant for combining Owl City-style vocals and dance beats with unique instrumentation. At the tail-end of the set, their female pianist Saori played an accordion and added a banjo to the mix.
While South Korean girl group Apink may be relatively new to the scene, they clearly had a sizeable following among the audience of nearly 20,000 fans that gathered at Sunway Lagoon’s Surf Beach. Confetti-filled balloons made their rendition of NoNoNo even more of a crowd-pleaser and throughout their four-song set, the girls interacted with the audience, showing why they were poised to be the next big K-Pop group.
Melodic Math
That Saturday night called for Jason Derulo’s explicitly club-friendly sounds and that was exactly what we got. Starting with In My Head, his 14-track medley was proof that he can slip between genres with relative ease, from the tender Marry Me to the upbeat Want To Want Me. On his newest album “Everything is 4,” the 25-year-old has noticeably ditched his old calling card, singing his own name, and forged ahead to position himself as one of R&B’s competent EDM fusionists à la Ne-Yo or Chris Brown. He demonstrated that confidence onstage, teaching the audience some dance moves and contrasting his early days of singing in shopping malls to now holding concerts in front of tens of thousands,
But I was most curious to see how Carly Rae Jepsen would translate the savvy melodic math of “E-Mo-Tion” to entertain a park full of eager kids. The saxophone-heavy Run Away With Me was the perfect opener, evoking Robin Sparkles in a way that made everyone feel better, not worse, about themselves. As the Michelle Trachtenberg lookalike bounced around and played with her short, textured chop, it was apparent that she was having a lot of fun.
Jepsen said that she “fell in love with the joy of pop music, thanks to the Spice Girls” and her effortless delivery of new tracks such as the slow-gliding All That, produced with Ariel Rechtshaid and Blood Orange’s Devonte Hynes, and Boy Problems, co-written with Sia, sound like the genre’s platonic ideal. Her rendering of Emotion, my favorite, was a cherished moment I have since recounted to friends who weren’t there. Call Me Maybe and its virus-like sing-along melody were unnecessary at this point in the show, but she was wise to make it her penultimate number right before I Really Like You. It showed that despite occupying a prime position in the pop universe, she has managed to funnel that success into a big-budget record that feels artisanal. That’s why Carly Rae Jepsen is a smart musician, one who triumphs over becoming yet another one-hit wonder.
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The show will premiere on MTV in Asia on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 2:30 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Saturday, Oct. 10 and Sunday, Oct. 11.