Kiss

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Kiss is the second studio album from Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen. It was first released on September 14th 2012 through 604, School Boy, and Interscope Records.

The album would serve as Jepsen's global debut, being her first project released outside of Canada, following the success of Call Me Maybe.

Track listing

Standard track listing

Background

Scrapped Curiosity album

Prior to the development of Kiss, Jepsen's second studio project was originally an album called Curiosity, which was set to be released in February 2012. ^[1] Ultimately, Curiosity would instead be cut down to a six-track extended play by 604 Records just days before its intended release, due to the rising popularity of its lead single Call Me Maybe. This decision was made as the Curiosity album was only planned to be released in Canada, whilst Call Me Maybe was seeing mass commercial success worldwide.

Due to the success of Call Me Maybe, Jepsen was signed to Interscope and Schoolboy Records who would now oversee the global distribution of her music. Under her new label, Jepsen was invited down to Los Angeles to work with local songwriters and producers, which she says was 'a dream' for her - thus, she decided to 'throw [Curiosity] into the abyss and went and started new' instead. ^[2]

Writing and development

§ Kiss development timeline: Kiss/Timeline

Development in 2012

Once in Los Angeles, work began on Jepsen's new sophomore album under a tight deadline of just four months. The first song to be recorded for the album was Beautiful, a duet with Justin Bieber, that the pair recorded in February 2012, soon after Jepsen had first arrived in Los Angeles.

In early March 2012, Jepsen was in the studio with Josh Ramsay in Canada and it was likely this is when they wrote Guitar String / Wedding Ring. Whilst in Canada, Jepsen recored vocals for Good Time, a collaboration with Owl City, at the suggestion of then-manager Scooter Braun.

Development on Kiss proper would begin in May 2012, after Jepsen flew to Atlanta to work on new music with Dallas Austin and Cory Enemy. Jepsen's trip to Atlanta lasted until June 1st, and in that time, she recorded Tiny Little Bows, Drive, and the new version of Curiosity.

Back in Los Angeles, Jepsen wrote Your Heart Is a Muscle between June 19th and the 20th, and recorded the song with producer Toby Gad on June 26th. That same day, Good Time is released as the album's second single. On June 24th, Carly wrote Sweetie with Jack Antonoff in a studio session with pop rock band Fun; on June 25th, she recorded Wrong Feels So Right.

At at an unknown date in June 2012, Jepsen wrote This Kiss over the phone with with producer Redfoo, and was introduced to Matthew Koma during the development of the song. With Koma, Jepsen wrote and recorded More Than a Memory, Hurt So Good, I Know You Have a Girlfriend, Almost Said It, and Melt With You, between June and July 2012.

On July 16th, Jepsen continued to work on new music with Dallas Austin, and on July 17th, decided on the album's title. On July 20th, Carly recorded Turn Me Up with Bonnie McKee and Oliver Goldstein. Later that month, between July 25th and the 29th, she visited Sweden to meet with Max Martin and recorded Tonight I'm Getting Over You. Whilst in Sweden, she also worked with Klas Åhlund to produce Sweetie. At the end of July, Kiss was due-in by Jepsen's label, and by August 2012, the album was completed. Kiss was officially announced by Jepsen on August 8th 2012.

2020 Retrospective

In later years, Jepsen would go onto say that the development of Kiss was "very rushed", but described it as a fun and challenging experience. "I wanted to make pop, but I was still learning about it. I think I was just so thankful and grateful that anyone was paying attention that I was like, OK, I can do it in two months; I can do one month if you need it." ^[3][4]

Announcement and release

§ Full release history: Kiss/Timeline

Announcement

The initial announcement of Jepsen's upcoming second-studio album would come as early as February 2012, with plans to release later that year under School Boy and Interscope Records. The album, still unnamed, was revealed to be releasing sometime in the fall by Jepsen.

Kiss was officially announced by Jepsen via Twitter on August 8th 2012, with a release date set for September 18th. In the week leading up to the announcement, Jepsen teased the name of the album in a series of Tweets. The album cover was revealed on August 15th 2012, with iTunes pre-orders beginning September 5th.

Release

Kiss would be released worldwide across September 2012, first seeing a release of the standard edition of the album in Australia and Germany on September 14th under Universal. On September 17th, the deluxe album was released in the United Kingdom and France under Polydor Records.

On the album's official release date of September 18th, it was released in the United States and Canada under 604 and Interscope with both standard and deluxe editions. On September 19th, Kiss was lastly released in Japan. Japan would also receive an exclusive reissue of the album, the Tour Edition, on January 20th 2013 under Universal. For the album's tenth anniversary, Kiss was repressed on standard vinyl for the first time - with an expected release date of June 17th 2022.

Release history

Country	Date	Edition	Format	Label
Australia	September 14th 2012	Standard	CD Digital	Universal
Germany
France	September 17th 2012	Deluxe	CD Digital	Polydor
United Kingdom
Canada	September 18th 2012	Standard Deluxe	CD Digital	604
United States				Interscope
Japan	September 19th 2012	Standard	CD / DVD Digital	Universal
	January 20th 2013	Tour edition	CD / DVD Digital
Canada	June 18th 2013	Standard	Vinyl	604
United States	June 17th 2022	Standard	Vinyl	School Boy

Singles

Call Me Maybe

The first single of the album, Call Me Maybe, was first released on September 20th 2011 through 604 Records exclusively in Canada, and would serve as the intended lead single of the scrapped Curiosity album and extended-play. Once Jepsen was signed to School Boy and Interscope Records in February 2012, the song would now be distributed worldwide as the official lead single of Kiss instead.

Good Time

Good Time, a collaboration with Owl City, would serve as the album's official second international single; released on June 26th 2012.

This Kiss

This Kiss was released as the album's third single, just a week prior to Kiss, on September 10th 2012.

Tonight I'm Getting Over You

The album's final single, Tonight I'm Getting Over You, was released on January 21st 2013. The song would later receive an official remix, featuring Nicki Minaj, on May 6th 2013.

Promotional singles

Kiss would also see a selection of international buzz singles released to promote the album, the first of which being Almost Said It, released exclusively on iTunes Canada in December 2012. Additionally, Picture was released on January 23rd 2013, exclusively on iTunes Japan to promote the Tour Edition of the album.

Despite not being released as a single, Beautiful (with Justin Bieber) would see minor success on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100, peaking at #87 and #37 on each chart respectively. The song would also chart across Australia, Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Critical reception

Kiss received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with an aggregated score of 63 on Metacritic based on 13 reviews. ^[6]

Heather Phares of AllMusic gave Kiss four out of five stars, describing it as 'one of 2012's best, and sweetest, pop albums' in-part due to Jepsen's 'girl-next-door persona.' AllMusic also named Kiss as one of its top 10 albums of 2012. ^[7]

Benjamin Boles of Now Magazine gave the album four out of five stars, proclaiming Kiss was 'better than what most acts can manage on their greatest hits packages, let alone their second album.' ^[13]

Evan Sawdey of PopMatters praised Jepsen for her musical talent, writing 'Jepsen proves she has more talent than half of the stars out there, managing to not only sell virtually every word on the album but also managing to make it all sound off-the-cuff and effortless.' ^[17]

Kiss also received less positive views from critics. Jim Farber of the Daily News rated the album two out of five stars, stating Jepsen was 'confined more than ever, tethering her to a role that renders Kiss this year's most redundant disc.' ^[9]

Gallery

• § Visit the Kiss gallery: Gallery
• § Visit the Kiss photoshoot gallery: Photoshoot Gallery

Album covers

Standard edition

10th Anniversary Edition

Deluxe edition

Tour edition

Album booklet

Special thanks

“	To my parents - Dad, I might be one of the luckiest daughters in the world to fall asleep to your guitar the way I would. Patty, I want to go throw my hair on top of my head right now and boogie in the living room the way we used to. Mom, our music listening parties are still my favorite. Also, the random phone calls where you play a song over the line and hang up.... I know it’s you. Haha. Ron, thanks for being a loving ear when I need it and the right amount of wisdom when I need that too. Colin and Katie - What can I say? From Media Club days ‘til now, thanks for finding your way to the front row, knowing all the words and making me smile. To my very best friend in the whole wide world, Katie Mattie - Thanks for sending me Anne Shirley quotes and always being on my side no matter what. The day I found your little pink bike was the day my life got better. To the rest of my amazing family - Jepsen’s, Hobson’s, Lanzarotta’s, and Zackarak’s ....You are the greatest. Thanks for supporting me since the days of Annie. That must have been painful, but you were all such good sports. To my friends, also the BESTband a girl could hope for: Tavish Crowe, Nik Pesut, Solomon Standing and Jared Manierka - Thanks for literally jumping on this roller coaster with me and demanding that I keep my hands up...even when it gets scary. I love you guys. Jonathan Simkin - You and I have had quite the year. I remember the first night you called saying things were going to get crazy...and we both said “awesome, let’s do it.” Thanks for believing in me as not just a singer, but also a writer. Your confidence held me through and helped me make a record that I will be forever PROUD of. I honestly can’t thank you enough for your hard work and knowledge about things that are way over my head. Scooter Braun - I think you are brilliant. I am Alice in Wonderland and you are the Mad Hatter. Thanks for changing my life for the better and giving me countless opportunities to share and spread my music. I feel so lucky to be a part of your amazing team and family. Justin Bieber - I am forever indebted to you for this. I honestly can’t say what it means that you heard my song, and decided to spread some light on it. My childhood dream came true this year and it’s all thanks to you. Lucian Grainge, Jimmy Iovine, Brenda Romano, Steve Berman, Larry Jackson, John Ehmann (My hero), Lisa Diangelo, Laura Hess, Jenifer Frommer, Jurgen Grebner, Karen Goodman, Chris Lopes, Gary Kwlly, Cori Weber, Stephanie Hsu, Gretchen Anderson, Esther Collins, Dave Anderson, Brian Alvarez, Rand Hoffman, Anthony Seyler, Kerry Hickey, Dennis Dennehy, and the whole crew from Interscope. I remember that first meeting in the boardroom, I have never been more intimidated in my life. Thank you for showing me that I was wrong to be nervous. What an amazing team. How did I ever get so lucky? Jonathan Simkin, Kesi Smyth, Jenna Robson, Keri Gilleard, Kyra Wittkopf and EVERYONE at 604 records. Party at mine soon, okay? Kesi... ALL the skittles in the world would not suffice. You make it easy for me to just enjoy this. Ryan Cain - Thanks for waking me up every day even when I don’t want you to. It’s such a joy to work with a friend. Everyone at Schoolboy Records - It’s lovely to discover that people in the music business can be so sincerely kind hearted and good. Don’t know how to properly express my love to you guys. Scooter Braun, Allison Kaye, Kenny Hamilton, Brad Haugen... Thanks for being the way you are. Randy Lennox, Paul Jessop, Nicole Van Severen, Sara Milne and everyone at Universal Music Canada - Thanks for pushing this thing from day one. What an amazing journey... let’s keep going please. Thank you to the producers and co writers – Max Martin, Lukas Hilbert, Dallas Austin, Cory Enemy, Jaden Michaels, Mighty Mike, Toby Gad, GoonRock, Redfoo, Klas Ahlund, Jack Antonoff, Sara Quin, Bonnie McKee, Josh Abraham, Oligee, Ryan Williams, Dave Ogilvie, Kevvy Mental and Sean Walsh. Josh Ramsay, Tavish Crowe, Ryan Stewart - Thank you for making this record what it is. Matthew Koma -Thank you for Venice Beach and everything after it. Thanks to my agents - Colin Lewis at The Agency Group, David Levine & Sara Newkirk at William Morris Endeavour and my film agent, Julie Colbert. You guys are the bomb. ELSHANE - I simply adore you. You make fashion so exciting. I feel thrilled to be working with such a visionary stylist and friend. Big thanks to Jordi Ashworth. To Brandon, Veronique, Barron, Jamie, Erin - The fact that I am away all the time and can still feel your love through text and emails and phone calls...well, it’s the stuff that keeps me going. Thank you for proving to me that friendship can outdo distance any day. Last but never least, thanks to my amazing FANS. I dedicate this record to all of you.... Keep smiling. I like you best that way. <3	”
–Carly Rae Jepsen, 2012

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