“MADE IN CANADA” read the white lettering on the back of Carly Rae Jepsen’s black leather jacket as she strutted across the stage during the opening moments of Run Away With Me.
The Mission-bred singer wasn’t afraid to fly her flag high in an evening that was certainly a celebration of homegrown pop talent.
While some could have seen her opening slot for pop-rock faves Hedley as an odd step in a career arc that’s been nothing but propulsive over the past five years — from her explosion on the pop scene with hit single Call Me Maybe in 2012 (thanks to another Canadian hit maker, Justin Bieber) to her latest album Emotion — others may have looked at it as an easy sell.
After all, Hedley’s crowd is arguably mostly the same as the one CRJ courts: Young fans with a love for pop with a little bit of an edge but still planted squarely in the mainstream.
L.A. Pride weekend in West Hollywood was obviously supposed to be a celebration. And that’s how it started, on Saturday, when British electropop starlet Charli XCX headlined with special surprise guests Rita Ora and JoJo.
However, by the end of Saturday evening, news had spread about the tragic shooting at Orlando’s gay nightclub Pulse – the deadliest mass shooting in the United States, and the worst U.S. terror attack since 9/11.
Sunday, therefore, was a very different, much darker day at L.A. Pride. But in the end, love, hope, and good music prevailed. The mood Sunday – the day of the West Hollywood parade on Monica Blvd. – was noticeably (and understandably) more somber compared to Saturday, especially when it was revealed that a 20-year-old Indiana man, James Wesley Howell, had been arrested while heading toward the festival, allegedly with an arsenal of weapons.
But these shocking news stories didn’t deter members and friends of Los Angeles’s LGBT community from showing up and showing their support. And by the time Sunday’s main musical acts – New Orleans’s “Queen of Bounce” Big Freedia on the Hip-Hop Stage, and indie-pop princess Carly Rae Jepsen closing out the Main Stage – performed at West Hollywood Park, the vibe was celebratory once more.
In the ad for the shampoo Moist Diane, Carly Rae is looking very refreshed and cheery as she exits a town car and makes her way into an airport, noticing a sullen girl driving away on a bus. Through flashbacks, it appears as though there is a boy she likes — and after that boy touched her hair, he decided to get on his plane and leave.
But while Jepsen’s “I Really Like You” fills the soundtrack, we see that the singer will not stand for such behavior. Biting her lip and jumping on the bus, Carly Rae grabs the girl’s hand and leads her through the airport, where friends and strangers alike join them in a massive dance number.
Canada’s Polaris Prize has announced its much-watched “short list” of nominees for the 2016 Canadian Album of the Year award, including records by a number of SPIN favorites like Carly Rae Jepsen, Grimes, Kaytranada, White Lung, PUP, and Jessy Lanza. (Among notable names dropped from the “long list”: Drake, Justin Bieber, and The Weeknd.)
The Album of the Year winner will receive a C$50,000 prize; the nine runners-up receive C$3,000 apiece. The 2016 eligibility period runs from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016, so some 2015 releases such as E•MO•TION and Art Angels qualify. A final winner will be announced at a ceremony on September 19. See the full “short list” of nominees below, via the Polaris Music Prize.
Black Mountain, IV Basia Bulat, Good Advice Carly Rae Jepsen, E•MO•TION Grimes, Art Angels Kaytranada, 99.9% Jessy Lanza, Oh No PUP, The Dream Is Over Andy Shauf, The Party U.S. Girls, Half Free White Lung, Paradise
PC Music’s Danny L Harle has shared a new song featuring Carly Rae Jepsen. It’s called “Super Natural,” and it first premiered in July at an event for Red Bull Music Academy’s RBMA Radio L.A. Stream the track below.
In a press release, Danny L Harle said:
I wrote the melody for “Super Natural” before I had any lyrics in mind, and even at that stage I knew it was going to be an important track for me. I found that the lyrics came to me easily once I had the tune. Carly was always at the top of my list of people who could sing it, but I never envisaged it actually happening! Ever since I heard “Call Me Maybe” she has been one of my dream collaborators. I love her take on the track; her voice has an amazingly positive energy which was essential in giving “Super Natural” a necessary sense of euphoria.