As someone who has been a fan of Sabrina Carpenter since her 2016 album ‘EVOLution,’ I was counting down the days until the release of ‘Short n’ Sweet’ on August 23. While Carpenter has regularly released music since her breakout Disney Channel show “Girl Meets World,” ended in 2017, she just recently skyrocketed to true popstar fame. Between releasing her back-to-back albums ‘Singular Act I’ and ‘Singular Act II’ in 2018 and 2019, Carpenter continued her acting career in a number of TV shows and movies. She played supporting roles in both Netflix’s “Tall Girl” and the movie adaptation of “The Hate U Give,” as well as playing the leading role in the drama “The Short History of the Long Road.”
After switching record labels in 2021, Carpenter launched her first single to debut on the Billboard Hot 100, “Skin.” Fans at the time speculated it was in response to Olivia Rodrigo’s breakout single “drivers license,” after Carpenter was rumored to be in a relationship with Rodrigo’s ex, actor Joshua Bassett, although she has since then denied the connection.
Carpenter began to gain significant internet fame with her fifth album, ‘Emails I Can’t Send’ in 2022. After embarking on her own tour for the album through 2023, Carpenter performed as an opener for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour for her shows in Latin America, Australia and Singapore. Carpenter’s appearance on the tour continued her momentum from her album in 2022, propelling her to release ‘Short n’ Sweet’ last month to critical acclaim.
The album begins with “Taste,” a classic Carpenter pop song about how after a breakup an ex goes back to his old girlfriend. A music video was released for the song featuring actress Jenna Ortega. The music video tells the story of the two women fighting over a guy, who ends up being killed in the end, as Ortega and Carpenter become best friends instead. The video accompanies the song perfectly, in all of its gory goodness, and was a very entertaining addition to “Taste.”
The album moves into the second track “Please Please Please,” the second single off the album. Yet another flawless summery pop track, Carpenter discusses the singer being in a relationship with a man who has a less than perfect reputation, and how she doesn’t want him to embarrass her. The song is speculated to be about her current boyfriend, actor Barry Keoghan, who also stars in the music video as a criminal who pulls off heists such as robbing banks, all while Carpenter begs him to stop. “Please Please Please” has an interesting sound compared to the rest of the songs, sounding slightly funky and offbeat. It took me a few listens to really like it, but it was a nice partner to the more classic pop sounds of “Espresso.”
With “Please Please Please,” we get a glimpse into one of the main ideas of “Short n’ Sweet.” All of the songs are about relationships, however, many discuss relationships that are disappointing.. Songs “Sharpest Tool,” “Dumb & Poetic,” and “Slim Pickins” all talk about being slightly unsatisfied with the person you are dating. In “Slim Pickins,” Carpenter sings, “Oh, it’s slim pickings / If I can’t have the one that I love / I guess it’s you that I’ll be kissing.” In “Sharpest Tool,” she starts out by saying, “I know you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed.” Additionally, in “Lie To Girls,” she sings about how her boyfriend doesn’t have to make excuses for his behavior, because she’ll just do it for him. This is a concept also discussed in Carpenters previous album “emails i can’t send,” which also talks about being disappointed by the men in her life, including her father. All of these songs, specifically “Slim Pickins,” were entertaining to listen to, and used a more upbeat sound to contradict the bleak lyrics.
One song that differs from this morose perspective on relationships is “Espresso,” the lead single, a song that if you’ve listened to the radio at all recently, I’m sure you’ve heard. Despite only releasing on April 12, the song has already hit 1 billion streams. And, maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but it was one of my least favorite songs on the album. It’s a fun pop song that compares the energy Carpenter brings to relationships to a shot of espresso, but compared to the other songs, it didn’t stick out to me lyric-wise. Additionally, the song showcases Carpenters incredible vocals, by bringing an almost eighties pop sound to the track.
“Espresso” also had an accompanying music video, which features Carpenter dancing on a beach until she is arrested (leading directly into the “Please Please Please” music video, which can be heard at the end of the “Espresso” music video). I can see why it was a chart topping song, but I think that there were other songs on “Short n’ Sweet” that deserved the same kind of fame as “Espresso.”
Although all of the songs on ‘Short n’ Sweet’ were well produced, and enjoyable to listen to, it felt short. Maybe it’s just me as a fan wanting more to listen to, but in my opinion, ‘Short n’ Sweet’ needed a few more songs. When the album finished, it didn’t feel complete. While all of the songs were good, none of them stuck out to me in a significant way. Still, whether you are a fan of Sabrina Carpenter or not, I would recommend giving it a listen. It is a fun album to soundtrack the remaining days of summer, and is another solid release for Sabrina Carpenter.
