With what became the largest year of her already lengthy career, Sabrina Carpenter delivered a new massive wave of potential with her latest work. Riding off the success of two smash hit singles that dropped earlier this year, — “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” — Carpenter released her highly anticipated sixth studio album “Short n’ Sweet” on Aug. 23.
Lead single “Espresso” is as addictive as the titular beverage, remaining high on the charts five months after its release. It is modern pop perfection: witty verses, catchy choruses and a concept absurd enough to fit flawlessly into the modern music landscape. The song of the summer is the perfect foundation for the final edition of “Short n’ Sweet.”
The second promotional single “Please Please Please” expresses some anxiety about being in a relationship in the public eye. Carpenter is no stranger to fame, beginning her acting career in 2013, vocalizing a hope to stay in the public’s good graces. Knowing that her muse’s actions often reflect on her, she begs for him to keep on his best behavior while with her. The song landed her in the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of June 29 — a career first for Carpenter.
The hit singles stem from the success of Carpenter’s 2022 album “emails i can’t send,” which was an excellent progression past her teenage-tinged songs shrouded by the corporate innocence of the Disney-owned music label, Hollywood Records. The album produced strong, internet-viral singles, introducing a wider audience to Carpenter’s occasionally cheeky, often witty and always brutally honest lyricism. “Short n’ Sweet,” Carpenter’s second album with Island Records, is a confident evolution of her past sound and lyrics.
Carpenter worked closely with songwriters Amy Allen and Julia Michaels who she also collaborated with on her last album. Other notable additions to Carpenter’s production team include producers Jack Antonoff, known for his synth-pop hits with stars like Lorde and Taylor Swift, and John Ryan, known for his extensive work with One Direction.
Carpenter and her collaborators capture the specific and intimate emotions of fleeting moments with a romantic partner. The album explores the desperation, frustration and exhilaration of the landscape of dating in your twenties while also being thrust onto the world’s stage.
Opener “Taste,” is a clever dig at an ex-partner’s current lover set to a delightfully upbeat electric guitar melody. Carpenter explores the idea of her leaving such a long-lasting legacy on her ex-partner that his current lover will undoubtedly sense her effect on him. Carpenter acknowledges the reputation she has been given in the last few years — a girl known for being a participant in love triangles — while flipping the script to reinforce her unapologetically gutsy songwriting.
“Good Graces” pleads Carpenter’s muse to continue behaving properly. She is not afraid of “turnin’ lovin’ into hatred.” While the writing on this track is not particularly clever compared to the rest of the album, the production and energy have made it a fan favorite, and the second most streamed on Spotify over the first weekend.
“Dumb & Poetic” ridicules her muse for being overly philosophical and pretentious because this carefully curated projection of himself fails to acknowledge the wrongdoings he has committed. It’s a frustrating sentiment to realize that even the best efforts to self-therapize can’t transform a sleaze into a gentleman.
While not officially released prior to the album dropping, the country-folk-inspired “Slim Pickins” was performed at a Grammy Museum event on Aug. 2, making it one of the most anticipated tracks among fans. The song laments on the pitifully small pool of decent men for Carpenter to date. Carpenter pokes fun at the men she has resorted to for their grammatical shortcomings as well as more serious flaws like their inability to leave their exes alone on drunken nights.
“Bed Chem” is the execution of an instant sexual attraction. In true Carpenter fashion, the song is full of double entendres and innuendos, balancing blunt jokes about camaraderie and oversized packages with lines about the intense pining of a debilitating crush. Fantasy is the game in this song, and Carpenter plays it with ease.
“Juno” is a peppy track in which Carpenter enthusiastically gives herself to her muse. This is certainly the happiest track on this album, a welcome departure from the heartbroken and spiteful themes of much of the rest of the record. The song makes a reference to the 2007 film “Juno” as Carpenter propositions her partner to turn her into the lead character. Fittingly, the track also sounds as if it could come straight out of a John Hughes movie, dazzlingly rockish and anthemic — the romanticization of high school love.
“Juno” and “Bed Chem” have garnered such virality that Carpenter herself dubbed the work her “ovulation album” in an Instagram post celebrating four days since the release. Cheeky innuendos like this are just what has made Carpenter so beloved by young adults. A jazzy belt about being “so f****n’ horny” would not be so appreciated by any other demographic, nor would it be executed as beautifully by any other artist.
Closing track “Don’t Smile” is a gloomy goodbye mixed with a spiteful warning. Carpenter mourns a relationship and the person she was while she was in it, while simultaneously wishing for her ex to feel the same pain she does.
While “Short n’ Sweet” may not be groundbreaking for the world of pop music, nor is it a huge progression from Carpenter’s previous work, the album is quintessentially Carpenter. A blend of perfect pop radio hits and emotional deep cuts has long defined Carpenter’s long-form releases — “Short n’ Sweet” is no different.
Coming in at just 36 minutes in length, “Short n’ Sweet” is surely a saccharine listen, but its strength perhaps leaves audiences wishing it wasn’t so brief. Fortunately, Carpenter does not appear to be slowing down any time soon; instead, “Short n’ Sweet” should signify the start of a well-earned pinnacle in her career.
Camille Robinson is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the summer 2024 quarter. She can be reached at camilllr@uci.edu.
Edited by Lillian Dunn and Uma Desai
