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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
God Is in the TV

Dedicated isn’t a grand statement; it’s a well rounded record that finds Jepsen sounding confident and relaxed. The whole thing glistens thanks to an endless run of warm, shimmering melodies and rich production details.

90
AllMusic

Fortunately, Jepsen is just as committed to her music as she is to the ideal of true love, and the way she's grown without sacrificing her uniqueness makes Dedicated a master class in what a 2010s pop album can be.

90
Albumism
It’s an album of sensual, revelatory and exploratory pop music that realizes the pulse of the dance floor can take you higher when you’re feeling on top, and keep you afloat when you’re suddenly sinking.
90
The Line of Best Fit

Through envy, happiness, uncertainty, and self-assuredness, Dedicated tells us that every emotion we feel is another important step in our own personal saga.

80
The Sydney Morning Herald

Dedicated fizzes​ with the feverish enthusiasm, crisp melodies and incomparable sense of cool that Jepsen's fans have waited four years to hear, and it's been worth that wait.

80
The Independent

The 33-year-old’s fourth album, Dedicated, covers the full, but generic, spectrum of relationships: dizzying love, lust, and break-ups

80
The Guardian

With less of the belt-it-out bombast, Jepsen presents her more confident, seductive and cheeky sides – all are welcome.

80
Clash
’Dedicated’ is a joyride of anthemic melodies and fist-pumping bangers that see Jepsen at the top of her game. Revolving in a shimmering cloud of ‘80s synth, bouncy bass and progressive percussion, she has certified herself as a serious contender in the pop arena.
80
The Young Folks

If the extra edges had been sloughed off, the album might pack a slightly more powerful punch. Even considering all of that, Dedicated is effective and, in the most Jepsen way, a consistent slice of ultimate pop music that will get its hooks into you and make you move.

80
Exclaim!

Dedicated is a more nuanced and subdued work than Jepsen's 2015 masterwork, trading in some of her last record's razzle-dazzle for a more refined emotional palette, but losing none of the songs' staying power.

80
The Skinny

Dedicated is packed with the sort of earworms that burrow into your subconscious, only to burst free later in a hail of bus stop humming and unaccompanied impromptu karaoke.

80
The Irish Times
Lifting our sorrows while addressing her own, Jepsen grants us salvation through pop. Committed? No. Dedicated.
80
NME

Following up the cult favourite that was ‘Emotion’ was always going to be a tough ask, but Jepsen has done a more than admirable job with her fourth album.

80
PopMatters

Carly Rae Jepsen's Dedicated lives in the explosive lift-offs and devastating crash-and-burns of coupling, those meaty emotionally hefty peaks of relationships that form the inverted bell-curve of the heart.

80
musicOMH

This is easily one of the best pop albums of the year as it is.

78
Paste

Dedicated could’ve easily been either a woebegone heartbreak record or a carefree, lovestruck free-for-all had it been dreamt up by someone else. Instead, thanks to Ms. Jepsen’s talent for processing feelings, it’s an intersection of those two ends of the pop spectrum and a daring display of chart-topping sounds from across the decades.

75
The 405

While Jepsen has once again delivered a stunning hook-filled record that frankly gets catchier every time you hear it, Dedicated may not quite satisfy our lust for connection.

75
Consequence of Sound

On Dedicated ... she’s let us into her head more than ever before. She’s confident enough about her thoughts and her abilities to open up about her life, which is shown by the confidence she expresses within the actual songs.

73
Pitchfork
On her fourth album, the Canadian pop star is doing what she does best, calibrating lovesick or lovelorn synthpop that’s neither too hot nor too cold—and sometimes, regrettably, only lukewarm.
70
Tiny Mix Tapes

Compared to E•MO•TION — which will be the active listening experience for many — Dedicated is a more emotionally incisive and insular album; smaller in scope, but no less polished.

70
FLOOD Magazine
She went through a damn lot of heartache to get to this point, but this record shows us what she’s become: optimistic, unapologetic, head-over-heels in love with herself.
70
The Needle Drop

Dedicated mostly sounds like a second helping of Emotion, which isn't such a bad thing.

70
Slant Magazine

Jepsen’s fourth album, Dedicated, is a carefully calibrated attempt at brand extension, reprising the effervescent pop of her last two albums while at the same time acknowledging that the 33-year-old is now a full-grown woman.

70
Rolling Stone

With all its polish and production, Dedication can sound less like an artistic benchmark and more like throwing gum drops at the ceiling to see which ones stick.

68
Sputnikmusic

Even amongst the overabundance of drab, Carly Rae still shines through the cracks.

60
Spectrum Culture

Dedicated plays it safe sonically and loses sight of the adventurous spirit of its predecessor.

60
Loud and Quiet

As solid a collection as Dedicated undoubtedly is, it’s missing the magic that made Emotion such a cultural phenomenon.

60
The Arts Desk
It feels churlish to find fault with someone with such a fantastic, wholesome presence – and the funkier moments here are outstanding and the album well worth a try – but the record as a whole feels more like a testing of interesting new waters than an outright triumph.
60
No Ripcord

There's a lot to love in Dedicated, but Jepsen tries to cover too [much] ground even if they follow similar song structures, to the point where it may bring some boredom.

60
Evening Standard

The tunes are precision-tooled bursts of longing, but Jepsen is always most likely to catch when she’s at her most throwaway … But mostly it’s an album of creamy middles.

Kanye
100

Before Release: DO NOT LISTEN TO THE LEAK CARLY NEEDS THE STREAMS im so sorry im like this ill try to be as objective as possible when i review this MASTERPIECE (srry)

Full Disclosure: I am completely obsessed with her like... it's kinda unhealthy. I just luv her so much, emotion is one of my favorite albums ever. It is so innocent, cute, retro and relatable, her voice is so sweet and hearing her sing makes me so happy !! The 80s synthpop direction is genius and just her mind is so powerful! ... read more

marvelgaryen
100

Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it!!!!!!!!!

Raincoat
88

There was no way that Carly Rae Jepsen was going to meet everyone’s expectations with “Dedicated”. “E•MO•TION” mythologised Jepsen as some unsung folk hero, worshipped by a newly-established cult whose increasingly performative praise felt more and more disingenuous as time passed, because ‘Jepsus’ herself has never been performative. So perhaps it’s no surprise that in “Dedicated”, she doesn’t bother to reach pople's ... read more

80

Yet another fun album from Carly. Worth a listen, especially for "Julien", "Now that I found you", and "Happy not knowing".

54

Terrible production

AldwinMagno
95

This album opened up my eyes to the wonder and potential of liking dance-pop. I honestly want to thank her for making one of my favorite albums in existence.

With that said though, am I the only Jepsie (or Jeppo) who did NOT like I'll Be Your Girl... there's no way it's better than Everything He Needs!

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Added on: April 1, 2019