Carly Rae Jepsen releases new single, ‘Western Wind’, and video – watch
The track was debuted onstage at Coachella last month
By Joe Goggins
Carly Rae Jepsen has released a new single and an accompanying, colourful video – you can see it below.
Fans got their first taste of ‘Western Wind’ last month, when the ‘Call Me Maybe’ hitmaker played it as part of her sets in the Mojave tent at Coachella. She had teased the track with a billboard in California shortly before the festival.
Along with an image of Jepsen and the name of the new single, the billboard displayed a phone number, 213-732-3275. Callers to the line were greeted with a pre-recorded message, which went as follows: “Hello. You’ve reached the Carly Rae Jepsen hotline. Text me here to stay in the loop on all the kinds of things: new music, tour, secrets that I haven’t even come up with yet. News… no, wait, there will be no news. Sorry. But there will be music for sure.”
Despite the vague nature of the message, it would appear that Jepsen is gearing up for a new record, which would be her first since the Canadian released ‘Dedicated Side B’ in 2020. On Twitter, also last month, she shared an image of a map of California, which sported lyrics including “Coming in like a western wind,” “Reminding me love that it’s all connected,” “First bloom, you know it’s spring”, “Do you feel home in all directions?” and “A celebration, a jubilation.” All of those lines appear in ‘Western Wind’.
The new single is Jepsen’s first since the release of the one-off track ‘Me and the Boys in the Band’ in August of 2020. In a message to fans at the time, she said: “Here’s to all the shows we have played and have yet to play. The late-night dancers we turn into on the long bus drives and the tourists we become in the early mornings. Here’s to nostalgia city and keeping close the ones that know you best. Can’t wait for more.”
She had previously told the ‘Switched On Pop’ podcast that she had recorded an entire album during COVID-19 quarantine, saying: “[Long-time collaborator Tavish [Crowe] and I have already made an entire quarantine album, and it is very different. It’s kind of fun! We had to do it around Zoom or things like that so it’s been like a challenge but a really fun one! You kind of write differently that way.” The record has yet to surface.