The joyous, floor-filling highlight of The Loveliest Time is as transcendent as its subject matter.
Love is a potent substance, and who knows this better than Carly Rae Jepsen, the starry-eyed pop star who has dedicated her entire career to exploring the mind-altering thrills of romance? On the swooning floor-filler “Psychedelic Switch,” the highlight of her new B-sides album The Loveliest Time, she once again evokes the concept of love as transcendence: “I was a sad, sad song before we met,” she sings. “But boy your love is such a trip, it’s like a psychedelic switch.” With four-on-the-floor kicks, hypnotic guitar loops, and tickling hi-hats, “Psychedelic Switch” harkens back to Daft Punk’s Discovery and the pinnacle of French touch. From this beatific state, the song reaches a new high in the final minute, heightened by strings, chipmunk vocals, and a bass-heavy breakdown. Even on the comedown, Jepsen still sounds blissed-out: “Cause baby I’d be satisfied forever with a couple years of this!” she exclaims. When the music sounds this good, you’d be too.
