In April 2016, Jepsen spoke to Stereogum that she was eager to work on new music, hoping to halve the production time consumed by her previous record.

She cited a stroke of inspiration that wasn't apparent when development on her third studio album Emotion (2015) began, which ultimately took three years to produce as Jepsen sought creative control and an evolution in sound.

"[7] Her relationship with photographer David Larkins came to an end during the same trip, which prompted Jepsen to explore the melancholy that pervaded her life:"I think the album goes through that process of like, 'Shit, what do I do now?'

Other contributors to the album include Jack Antonoff, Noonie Bao, Pontus Winnberg of Bloodshy & Avant and Captain Cuts.

Early in development, Jepsen was particularly looking forward to meeting Patrik Berger, being a fan of his work on Swedish singer Robyn's 2010 single "Dancing On My Own".

Under the working title of Music to Clean Your House To, Jepsen conceived the album as "an understated disco, living room dance party thing", an inclination that arose from digging into ABBA's back catalogue.

These influences from the '70s era, namely Donna Summer and the Bee Gees, were channeled into an incarnation of the project titled Disco Sweat.

[21] Its lyrics span themes of "crushing hard, having anxiety about a new relationship, experiencing true lovesickness, breaking up, and finally coming to terms with being alone".

[38] On June 28, Jepsen released a Mansionair remix of "No Drug Like Me" as a promotional single to mark the launch of the North American leg of The Dedicated Tour.

[40] A live version of the song recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City was released as a single on October 2, 2019, exclusively on Spotify alongside a cover of No Doubt's "Don't Speak" as a B-side.

"[47] Laura Snapes of The Guardian gave a rating of four stars out of five, stating that "[Jepsen] belts less, but leaves a stronger impression: swooning into the gently funky 'Julien'; seductively in control on the looser 'No Drug Like Me'; cheeky as Cyndi Lauper on 'Want You in My Room'.

"[18] Giving a rating of four stars out of five, Elisa Bray of The Independent describes Dedicated as "an album of polished pop" that "perhaps... will put [Jepsen] at the top where she belongs.