Carly Rae Jepsen, known for her romantic songwriting, recently described her journey to finding love in an unexpected way. She met Cole Marsden Greif-Neill, a Grammy Award-winning producer, during a songwriting session in May 2021. Initially colleagues and friends, they began a relationship a year later. Carly was "absolutely stunned" to fall in love after years of searching for a soulmate in Los Angeles. The couple married at the Chelsea Hotel in 2025 and welcomed their first child, a boy named Ilya, earlier this year. The beginning of their love story is reflected in Day and Night, her new double album of 24 songs released in September. The first song she wrote for the album, "No Labels, I Love You," was also written with Cole. Carly acknowledges the irony of writing a song about repressed feelings for a man she couldn't resist, now her husband. Carly was in New York to promote her new album and to attend meetings about her musical theater adaptation of 10 Things I Hate About You, titled 10 Good Reasons to Break Up With You, which will debut on Broadway in 2027. She composed the songs with Ethan Gruska, while the book is written by Lena Dunham and Jessica Huang. Carly mentioned that some songs from her previous album, The Loveliest Time, released in 2023, hinted at the themes she wanted to explore in Day and Night. She was going through a personal transition, especially after meeting Cole, and wrote a lot to process the changes in her life. When asked about the difference between the "Day" and "Night" parts of the album, Carly said it's more about general feelings than specific details. She finds her emotions stronger and more intense at night, which she wanted to reflect in the album. Carly mainly listened to old music, along with some recent tracks, and created playlists with melodies she liked. She sent these to her producers to capture the same energy, blending grunge, jazz, classical, and ABBA tracks. She touched on the subject of motherhood in the song "After All." When writing Day and Night, motherhood felt distant, like a dream. This song helped her imagine saying "yes" to that life. Carly mentioned that both her mother and stepmother told her that being a good mother also requires personal fulfillment. She also spoke to Sarah McLachlan, who encouraged her to continue her career while being a mother. Carly emphasized that she doesn't feel she has to sacrifice her life now that she's a mother, a contrast to the mindset of female pop stars ten years ago. Carly mentioned that she was "absolutely stunned" to fall in love and want to get married and have a family, as that didn't seem like her in the past. This surprise is one of the main themes of the album. She explained that she doesn't write songs about specific people, as it's not her style. To write about love or heartbreak, she believes she needs to live the emotion first. She allows herself some creative freedom, not necessarily capturing every detail, but focusing on how she felt. She created over 200 songs for her album Dedicated and wrote many more for Day and Night. Since it's a double album, she was able to include more songs. She also released several B-sides, allowing her to explore more unique themes. Passing the age of 40 gave Carly the feeling that she could finally do what she wanted. She feels more confident in her own tastes now, and the public expectations that weighed on her previous albums are less significant. She believes that Emotion helped her find her passionate fan base. When "Call Me Maybe" became a hit, she wanted to be known for an entire album, not just one song. Emotion became a small phenomenon, and she still finds it hard to believe how much the public still loves it. Some people think she has two careers: one with the general public and another as an independent figure. Carly isn't sure she sees it that way, as it might make her seem more strategic than she is. She is here to make music, simply. She became famous overnight and thought she would love it, but it was actually quite scary. She wondered who her fans were during her Kiss tour. She became famous at a time when artists had to be grateful for their notoriety. Today, stars like Chappell Roan question the expectations placed on young famous women. Carly might be a bit old-fashioned, but she believes any profession that makes others happy involves a certain responsibility. She mentioned that "Call Me Maybe" is one of the most beautiful things that have happened to her but also one of her greatest traumas. After the song's success, she took a break and played in Cinderella on Broadway. Her team was confused, but her close ones understood her passion for theater. With Emotion, she found her audience and everything became more fun. She got involved in the musical theater adaptation of 10 Things I Hate About You by chance. She had always wanted to write a musical and was thrilled when Mike Bosner, the producer, called her with the opportunity. She loved the movie and was initially intimidated but felt it was a great project. She now finds Kat's story in the musical more resonant. She has learned a lot from working on this project and considers it one of her greatest. She plans to pursue both a career in pop and musical theater. She dreams of following in the footsteps of Cyndi Lauper, who continued to tour and record while winning Tony Awards. She has always admired Cyndi and was honored to induct her into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at Carnegie Hall.