With a gorgeous new tune, Carly Rae Jepsen launches off her “Western Wind” era. Last month, the artist debuted the song at Coachella.
Carly Rae Jepsen has released a new tune called “Western Wind,” which she wrote herself. She’s teased the song with billboards, secret treasure maps, and a text hotline throughout the previous month. The single and accompanying video have finally come after performing the song at Coachella in April.
The Canadian’s new track is a homage to California, in all its glory and lushness. Jepsen professed her affection for the West Coast state in the previously published Dedicated Side B conclusion “Now I Don’t Hate California After All,” completing a hard chapter for the singer (as heard in “LA Hallucinations” and “Right Words, Wrong Time”).
“Western Wind” comes in like a fresh spring breeze, full of new promise and happiness. It’s a laid-back track that reflects on past romances and the feeling of finding one’s home in someone else. Taylor Fauntleroy’s soft-edged music video seems like it came straight out of a Wes Anderson film.
“Coming in like a western breeze / Do you feel home from all directions / First blossom, you know it’s spring / Reminding me love that it’s all connected,” she sings in the song. The song has all of Jepsen’s trademark romanticism while toning back the disco and high-energy pop elements she’s been embracing in recent years. It has a lightness about it that is artfully infused with sensitivity.
Rostam Batmanglij, who previously worked with Jepsen on the Emotion single “Warm Blood,” produced the track. Since the release of his full-length album Dedicated in 2019, Jepsen has released Dedicated Side B as well as other singles, including “Let’s Be Friends” and “It’s Not Christmas Until Somebody Cries.”
It’s too early to say whether a whole album will follow, but “Western Wind” feels like the start of something fresh.
