When you’re seeking out a life coach to help you make sense of your existence, Jim Carrey isn’t necessarily the most obvious candidate to turn to. But as she was taking stock of her career and relationships in the wake of her 2021 Juno-winning debut album, Phoenix, Montreal singer-songwriter Charlotte Cardin found herself drawn to the philosophical musings that her fellow Canadian dispensed in the various interview clips she watched online. “Jim Carrey has talked about the ego and how our fears are really holding us back from embracing our true selves,” Cardin tells Apple Music. “I was lost in a lot of ways, and I related to what he was saying so much.” After putting in her time with Ace Ventura, Pop Psychologist, Cardin emerged with the song “Jim Carrey,” the future-soul sprint at the middle of her second album, 99 Nights—the rough amount of time it took her to make it. “It’s this fictional love story where I asked him to marry me, to help me get rid of my ego,” she says. But Cardin didn’t just turn to Hollywood megastars for guidance through this transitory period in her career; she started out making the album in Montreal surrounded by various musician friends, feeding off their positive energy and embracing a loose, collaborative vibe. “A lot of what you hear on the album comes directly from the initial spark that we had in the studio,” Cardin says. “I really wanted to keep those special magical moments that happened and not alter them too much in production, and just keep that first-draft-type feeling.” That spirit of bonhomie can be instantly felt on the synthy soft-rock opener “Puppy,” where Cardin leans into the verses like an alt-pop Adele, announcing her spiritual rebirth by declaring, “It’s a new sensation/I got no expectations.” Her restoked confidence is evident even when she’s singing about her lack of confidence: With “Confetti,” she delivers a club-ready R&B jam for introverts who “always feel alone in a crowded place.” And on the title track, she channels her existential angst into a cathartic indie-pop anthem that crystallizes the moment when a dark night of the soul gives way to a new day rising. “[This album] was very much therapy on a lot of levels,” Cardin admits, “but in a really healthy way. It was my way of escaping what I was going through in my day-to-day life, through making fun music in the studio with people I love.”