Kiss is the second studio album by Canadian singer and songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen. It was released on September 14, 2012, by 604, Schoolboy, and Interscope Records. After her debut studio album, Tug of War (2008), Kiss became Jepsen's first internationally released album. Songs on the album are in the nu-disco, dance-pop, and teen pop genres, drawing inspiration from the Cars, Madonna and Robyn. Featuring production from a wide collection of producers including Dallas Austin, Josh Ramsay of Marianas Trench, GoonRock, Max Martin, Toby Gad and Redfoo of LMFAO, the album includes guest vocals from Justin Bieber and Owl City.
Kiss was generally positively reviewed by critics. Critics praised Jepsen for her vocal performance and songwriting, and complimented the album's upbeat production. However, some deemed it immature content for her age, which was 26 at the time. The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its opening week and debuted at five on the Canadian Albums Chart. It also charted in numerous international markets, including Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the UK, and it has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide as of 2021. The album and its singles earned Jepsen two Grammy Award nominations including Song of the Year, as well as winning Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2013.
Four singles supported Kiss; a massive commercial success "Call Me Maybe" which reached number one in over 15 countries and sold more than 18 million copies worldwide, a collaboration with Owl City "Good Time" which peaked in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 alongside topping Jepsen's home chart of the Canadian Hot 100, "This Kiss" which reached top 40 in Canada, and "Tonight I'm Getting Over You". "Almost Said It" and "Picture" were also released as the album's two promotional singles.
The album was promoted with the Summer Kiss Tour, which ran from May 24 to October 12, 2013. She also participated as a supporting act for Justin Bieber's Believe Tour from 2012 to 2013, alongside Cody Simpson, Jaden Smith, The Wanted, and Owl City. She also promoted the album through various televised appearances. Kiss was accompanied with a Japan-exclusive remix album, entitled Kiss: The Remix, which was released on June 12, 2013.
Production and recording For the recording of Kiss, Jepsen had recorded at a multitude of recording studios: 2nd Floor Studios, Bieler Bros. Studios, Boiler Room, Darp Studios, Focus Studios, Hipposonic Studios, Kite Productions Studios, London Police Station, MXM Studios, Pagzilla Sound Labs, Party Rock Studio, Pulse Recording, Signalpath Studios, Sky Harbor Studios, Sunset Marquis Studio, The Terrarium, Triangle Sound Studios West, Umbrella Studios. The album's production was handled by Josh Abraham, Klas Åhlund of Teddybears, Dallas Austin, Cory Enemy, Toby Gad, Jordan Gatsby, GoonRock, Kuk Harrell, Lukas Loules (as Lukas Hilbert), Colin Janz, Matthew Koma, Max Martin, Mighty Mike, Oligee, Josh Ramsay of Marianas Trench, Redfoo of LMFAO, Ryan Stewart, and Adam Young. Kiss features guest appearances for Young (under the Owl City name) and fellow Canadian singer Justin Bieber.
Musical styles of Kisss songs have been described as nu-disco, dance-pop, and teen pop.
Promotion Marketing
To promote Kiss, Jepsen performed "Call Me Maybe" at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards on May 20, the 2012 MuchMusic Video Awards on June 17, the 2012 Teen Choice Awards on July 22, and the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards on November 11. Alongside Owl City, the Canadian chanteuse sang their collaborative single, "Good Time", on America's Got Talent on August 22, Today on August 23, at the US Open's Arthur Ashe Kids' Day on August 25, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on August 28, and Conan on August 29.
On the drop-date of Kiss, "This Kiss" and "Call Me Maybe" were performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Additional performances of "This Kiss" were held at So You Think You Can Dance on September 18, 90210s episode "Till Death Do Us Part" on October 8, and Late Show with David Letterman on October 25. Jepsen performed "This Kiss", "Your Heart Is a Muscle", "Guitar String / Wedding Ring" and "Call Me Maybe" at the Walmart Soundcheck on September 26. Jepsen performed "This Kiss" and "Call Me Maybe" at American Music Awards of 2012 on November 18. Jepsen performed "This Kiss" and Call Me Maybe" at the halftime show during 100th Grey Cup on November 25. On December 2, Jepsen performed at The Big Jingle 2012.Carly Rae Jepsen to Bring the Good Times to the Big Jingle
Jepsen performed "Call Me Maybe" and "Tonight I'm Getting Over You" at NRJ Music Awards of 2012 on January 26, 2013. Jepsen performed "Sweetie" on the Shake It Up episode "Fair Librarian It Up", which aired on February 24, 2013.
Singles and other songs
Released as the lead single of Kiss on September 20, 2011, in Canada and internationally on February 22, 2012, "Call Me Maybe" was a massive international success, peaking at number one in 15 countries including Canada and the United States. After reaching the top position in Canada, Jepsen became the fifth Canadian artist to do so in her home country since 2007. In the United States, "Call Me Maybe" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first number one by a Canadian female artist on the chart since Avril Lavigne's 2007 single "Girlfriend". It gained over 1.8 billion streams on Spotify and sold more than 18 million copies worldwide. Its music video was written and directed by Ben Knechtel, and it received three nominations on the 2012 MuchMusic Video Awards in the categories of UR Fave Video, Pop Video of the Year, and Video of the Year.
The second single from Kiss, "Good Time" featuring Owl City, was released on June 26, 2012. In the United States, it reached at number 8 on the Hot 100, becoming the second to make the top ten on the chart for both artists; Owl City's first top ten single since "Fireflies" and Jepsen's first top-ten single since "Call Me Maybe". It also made Jepsen one of the few artists in history to have two top ten songs in the same week. "Good Time" has sold 2,249,000 copies by the end of 2012 in the United States alone, being certified double platinum in that territory. In Canada and New Zealand, it peaked at number one, becoming Owl City's first number-one single and Jepsen's second in both countries. The song also peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart. The music video directed by Declan Whitebloom was released on July 24, 2012, which features both Jepsen and Adam Young. It was filmed in Harriman State Park's Silvermine Picnic Area.
The third single, "This Kiss", was released on September 10, 2012. It peaked at number 86 on the Hot 100 and number 23 on the Canadian Hot 100, being the sixth top 40 hit in Canada. Kisss fourth single was "Tonight I'm Getting Over You", released on January 21, 2013. Jepsen debuted the song at the 2013 NRJ Music Awards, where she also performed it along with "Call Me Maybe". On January 27, she posted on her Facebook account that she shot the music video in Los Angeles.
"Almost Said It" was released exclusively on the Canadian iTunes Store as the first promotional single on December 4, 2012. The track "Beautiful" (featuring Justin Bieber) reached number 87 on the Hot 100 and 37 in Canada, becoming Jepsen's seventh top 40 hit and Bieber's twenty-second top 40 hit in Canada.
Tour
Jepsen promoted Kiss when opening for Justin Bieber during his Believe Tour in North America, Europe, and South America dates. During the tour, Jepsen performed "Sweetie", "Tiny Little Bows", "Good Time" with Cody Simpson, "Tonight I'm Getting Over You", "Curiosity", "This Kiss", "Your Heart Is a Muscle", "Hurt So Good", "Call Me Maybe", and "Beautiful" with Bieber. She further promoted Kiss with her first solo concert tour, the Summer Kiss Tour, which took place in the summer of 2013, from May 27 through October 12, 2013; it began in Jakarta, Indonesia, and ended in Simcoe, Canada.
Critical reception
Kiss received generally positive reviews from music critics with an aggregated metascore of 63 of 100 in Metacritic based on 13 reviews.
Heather Phares of AllMusic said: "After a string of fantastical glamazon pop stars like Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Nicki Minaj, there's something to be said for Jepsen's girl-next-door persona, which helps make Kiss one of 2012's best, and sweetest, pop albums." AllMusic also named Kiss as one of its top 10 albums of 2012 citing its "solid songwriting and fizzy melodies to prove her success [with 2012-defining single 'Call Me Maybe'] wasn't a fluke." Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly noted that the album "makes a mad dash for good-enoughness". Mikael Wood of Los Angeles Times evoked how the album "...feels like a successful attempt to invest pheromone-rush dance pop with a bit of old-soul wisdom." Benjamin Boles of Now proclaimed the album for containing "...two just okay songs and 14 great ones is better than most acts can manage on their greatest hits packages, let alone their second album." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters surmised: "Kiss will not be looked at as one of the all-time great pop albums. Yet song-for-song, 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, ultimately creating a bubbly pop playground that is both catchy and endearing without having to turn base or crude to get there...If she keeps putting out quality material like virtually all of Kiss, that thankfully will not be the only thing that defines her." Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star complimented it for being "...almost as insidiously easy on the ears", but also criticised its use of the "Call Me Maybe" template: "It's all so bright and immediate and perfectly pleasurable, though, that you don't really realize that you've essentially just listened to the same tune eight times in a row". Rayner ended the review by saying: "Get over the guilt and give in to the pleasure." Brian Mansfield of USA Today said that Carly Rae Jepsen "doesn't always lay herself open the way she does in Call Me Maybe. Much of her album is prefab dance-pop." To this, Mansfield wrote that "There's not another hit like 'Call Me Maybe'. But there's enough substance to ensure she's more than a one-hit wonder."