Coming off of the successes of “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” Sabrina Carpenter closed out the summer with an album that was both short (only 36 minutes long) and incredibly sweet.
On “Short n’ Sweet,” the 5-foot pop star balances two emotional extremes: deeply in love and deeply distressed and confused over the end of a relationship with a partner who returns to his ex.
Carpenter seamlessly traverses genres throughout the album — dipping into pop, country and some R&B — through her strong and consistent voice, literally (her vocal range is insane) and figuratively. The southern twang on “Slim Pickins’” (“Jesus, what’s a girl to do?/This boy doesn’t even know/The difference between ‘there,’ ‘their’ and ‘they are’/Yet he’s naked in my room”) and the more rhythmic sound on “Don’t Smile” (“Pour my feelings in the microphone/I stay in, and when the girls come home/I want one of them to take my phone”) both exude a personality that is distinctly Carpenter.
With “Taste,” the album’s opener and third single, Carpenter takes the role of a scorned girlfriend, speaking directly to her ex’s old/new girlfriend: “I heard you’re back together and if that’s true/You’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissin’ you/If you want forever, I bet you do/Just know you’ll taste me too.” The music video is a campy and gory homage to some of Carpenter’s favorite films and features fellow Disney Channel alum Jenna Ortega. The song’s story continues on later tracks, including “Coincidence” and “Sharpest Tool.”
On “Juno” (named after the 2007 film) and “Bed Chem,” Carpenter brings the romantic playfulness seen in her recent hits to another level. I love the contrast between the “Espresso”-like verses and choruses and the slow and sweet sound of the bridge on “Juno.” I especially love the lines, “I showed my friends, then we high-fived/Sorry if you feel objеctified/Can’t help myself, hormonеs are high/Give me more than just some butterflies.” The song also features my favorite guitar riff on the album. “Bed Chem” is equally upbeat and delightful, with wordplay that rivals “Nonsense” and cannot be included in print.
I am partial to Carpenter’s more stripped-back songs, my current favorite being “Lie to Girls.” I love the production on this track, which layers Carpenter’s voice on top of itself several times to achieve a dreamy sound as she relays the message: “You don’t have to lie to girls/If they like you, they’ll just lie to themselves.” After the first chorus, the song begins experimenting with mixing tone and tempo, making each line feel like it is cut from a different song in an interesting and cohesive way.
I have seen Carpenter on every headliner tour she has done, in 200-person capacity venues, on festival stages and from the audience of a late-night show; I truly believe she has hit her stride with this album. It is all the best aspects of her previous work — wide-spanning, cheeky and fun — but on a much larger scale and I am excited to see where else this era of music takes her.
