walking upstream…
Carly Rae Jepsen
Carly Rae Jepsen placed third on Canadian Idol in 2007 as an earnest acoustic-guitar singer, then became one of the biggest one-song stories in pop history when 2012's "Call Me Maybe" turned her into a global phenomenon almost overnight. Rather than chase the formula, she pivoted hard into fizzy, maximalist synth-pop with 2015's E•MO•TION — a critical reappraisal that made her a cult favorite among pop obsessives — and has spent the decade since (Dedicated, The Loneliest Time, The Loveliest Time) treating the disposable three-minute hook as a form worth perfecting.
the sound in question
2017
Cut to the FeelingCarly Rae Jepsen
walk the tributaries ↓
Cyndi Lauper1980s · Pop / Rock / New wave
Jepsen has pointed to seeing Cyndi Lauper perform live in Osaka as "a big moment of inspiration" while writing E•MO•TION (2015), saying she was floored by how lasting Lauper's songs were and by "how much heart" that era of pop carried — a direct spark for the album's unabashed '80s turn (she later inducted Lauper into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, praising the "timelessness" of her writing).
listen: upstream & heresource: Vice — "Carly Rae Jepsen on 80s Pop, Broadway and Tom Hanks" (Cyndi Lauper's Osaka show as the spark for E•MO•TION's '80s turn) ↗
1983
Time After TimeCyndi Lauper
2015
Run Away with MeCarly Rae Jepsen
listen forListen for how a plainspoken, aching hook is made to carry the entire emotional weight of the song, no irony attached — the same heart-on-sleeve directness of Lauper's "Time After Time" is what powers the sax-drenched, arms-flung-open chorus of "Run Away with Me."
Robyn2010s · Electropop / Dance-pop / Synth-pop
Jepsen has said that while making the Curiosity EP and Kiss (2012) she got "increasingly influenced by pop and dance music," naming Robyn specifically — the template of dance-floor euphoria wired to real heartbreak that Rolling Stone's Melody Lau heard directly in "Call Me Maybe," calling it "Taylor Swift meets Robyn."
listen: upstream & heresource: Wikipedia — Carly Rae Jepsen (career overview; Curiosity/Kiss-era influences including Robyn) ↗
2010
Dancing on My OwnRobyn
2011
Call Me MaybeCarly Rae Jepsen
listen forListen for the four-on-the-floor pulse holding up a lyric that refuses to play it cool — the same nervy, all-in urgency that drives Robyn's synth throb shows up in how "Call Me Maybe"'s chorus never once plays hard to get.
Kate Bush1980s · Art pop / Progressive pop / Alternative rock
Describing the concept for "Western Wind" (2022), Jepsen told its director she wanted the clip to be "very Kate Bush, but with, you know… gowns" — a direct nod she's echoed elsewhere, saying "Wuthering Heights" is her favorite Bush song and covering it live with producer John Carroll Kirby.
listen: upstream & heresource: Louisville Public Media — "I wanted the video to be like Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights" (Western Wind's Kate Bush concept, direct quote) ↗
1978
Wuthering HeightsKate Bush
2022
Western WindCarly Rae Jepsen
listen forListen and watch for the theatrical, wind-swept physicality — the same pastoral, arms-open drama Bush choreographs into "Wuthering Heights" resurfaces in "Western Wind"'s swirling gowns and open-field twirling, an airier and more literary register than Jepsen's usual dance-pop directness.