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Carly Rae has 'sunshine on her shoulders'

Carly Rae Jepsen wants to show you who she really is.

After finishing third on Season 5 of Canadian Idol last fall, Jepsen has just released her brand new single "Sunshine on My Shoulders." The song is off her upcoming debut album, which she says is a perfect representation of who she is as an artist.

"It meant a lot to me to finally, after a year of being on Canadian Idol and singing covers for all of Canada, it's going to be really exciting to be like, 'This is what I really wanted to show you. My main thing is that I write and I kind of had a direction and I hope you like it,'" says Jepsen, whose musical influences range from Ella Fitzgerald to Feist.

"I think a lot of times when you have your first record it can go a lot of different ways and I'm just so proud of it. I feel like it's exactly what I want it to be ... I think every song on there is sincere, which was my main goal. I didn't want it to come across as trying to be anybody other than myself."

"Sunshine on My Shoulders" is currently being played on radio stations across the country. It is the only cover song on the album, with Jepsen either writing or co-writing the rest.

Jepsen chose to re-make the classic tune that John Denver took to the top of the charts in the early 70s because it's a song she's loved for a long time.

"It just happened that I was at this party and we were all kind of reminiscing about childhood songs and that came up that that was mine and I was like, 'Someone should redo that song' and I thought well, 'Why don't I redo that song?'" says Jepsen.

"I think it's just sort of a nice celebration of summer and it's also one of those songs, I think it's kind of got those lyrics like an old jazz song that can go deeper but if you want to it can just be really like a feel good, happy summer song as well."

After her run on Canadian Idol ended, Jepsen spent the remainder of 2007 on a Top 3 Idol tour with winner Brian Melo and runner-up Jaydee Bixby.

She has been keeping busy doing shows and recently signed a co-management deal with Simkin Artist Management and Dexter Entertainment. Her record will be distributed by Fontana/Maple Music.

Jepsen, who hails from Mission, BC, has just moved into a new apartment in Vancouver's coveted Kitsilano neighbourhood and plans to relax a bit before her album is released later this summer.

"I'm four blocks from the beach and I can't believe my setup. I'm quite happy about it."

Jepsen has no idea what kind of reaction to expect from the album.

"I think that's one of the big lessons you learn from Idol is all you can do is give them is what you have to offer and then you've just got to let it go and hope for the best."

She hopes it will also reach out to some new fans.

"That's always a goal I think with everything is just trying to constantly make your fan base grow and to reach out to new people who maybe haven't heard it before so yeah, that's definitely one of those things we all hope will happen."