Sabrina Carpenter likes it “Short n’ Sweet”

Pop princess Sabrina Carpenter just came in hot, sharing her most personal album yet, Short n’ Sweet.

Written together with Amy Allen, Julia Michaels, and Steph Jones, along with John Ryan, Julian Bunetta, and Jack Antonoff, who also produced the album, Sabrina Carpenter once again proves her sharp songcraft and alluring vocals. With her two hit singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” predating the release of her newest album, Sabrina became “the first female artist to top the Billboard Global 200 and Global Ex-US charts simultaneously with two different songs.” Boasting a career as an actress, singer and songwriter, Sabrina Carpenter has captured the hearts of millions worldwide. Most recently, she enchanted us with her top-tier performance at the Outside Lands Festival. Starting off with the North American part of her Short n’ Sweet Tour, Sabrina has partnered with PLUS1, creating the Sabrina Carpenter Fund. Aiming to support the well-being of people and animals as well as the LGBTQ+ community.

The 12-tracks-long album starts off with a “Taste” of what’s to come. “Taste” is the first in a line of songs that merge deceptively sweet sounding melodies and vocals with empowering and vengeful lyrics. The song describes a rivalry between two women in a relationship with a man. Sabrina presumably takes the role of the ex-girlfriend whose ex-boyfriend got back together with an old love.

“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”

~ “Taste”

Evidently, she doesn’t plan on giving up on her ex anytime soon and makes sure her rival knows she’s in her territory. This rivalry is visualized in a very bloody, yet humorous music video starring Jenna Ortega that released alongside the single.

Watch the official music video to “Taste” below

Track number 2 on the album is the absolute smash hit “Please Please Please.” The song is a warning to her partner not to embarrass her and to keep a good face in front of the public since her ego is on the line.

“Please, please, please
Don’t prove I’m right”

~ “Please Please Please”

She asks her partner not to make her fears of embarrassment come true. The lyrics could just as well be interpreted as “Don’t prove ’em right,” which would lean more into the fear of proving the public’s skepticism of their relationship right.

Watch the official music video to “Please Please Please” below

“Good Graces” topically has a similar ring to it as the previous track. In the song, Sabrina makes clear to her partner that they should stay in her good graces, or else she’d be more than willing to drop them and move onto a better partner. In the song she states that the more she loves them, the deeper they’ll fall off if they disappoint her.

“‘Cause no one’s more amazin’
At turnin’ lovin’ into hatred”

~ “Good Graces”

“Sharpest Tool” delves even deeper into the struggles of miscommunication and mutual silence in a relationship. Sabrina portrays a side of vulnerability, depicting the fear of her partner leaving her for someone else.

“Then a bird flies by and you forget”

~ “Sharpest Tool”

She draws a comparison to how her partner’s wandering eye could draw them away to another woman just as easily as a bird flying by. The mix of simple acoustic guitars and Sabrina’s sweet voice creates an air of uncertainty and melancholy, hinting towards a past of many letdowns in relationships.

While more upbeat and energetic in sound, track number 5, “Coincidence,” isn’t as light-hearted as it seems. The song once again discusses a potential rivalry with another woman in a relationship. An old love of her partner’s slowly creeps back into their life, threatening to replace her. Ultimately, it appears as though her partner ends up cheating on her after assuring her time and time again that they wouldn’t. The betrayal is especially heavy, following the lines in which Sabrina describes her partner telling her that the relationship with their ex is over for good.

“Espresso” is another highlight and a highly acclaimed smash hit on the album. As Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and The New York Times predicted, “Espresso” might just be the hit of the summer. The caffeinated track screams summer vibes from the first beat. Similar to the beverage, Sabrina keeps the boys up at night and makes them addicted to her essence. Alongside the single, she released a music video that scratches that itch for summer feelings with boats and beaches.

Watch the official music video to “Espresso” below

While topically staying true to relationships and the drama surrounding some of them, sonically, “Dumb & Poetic” takes another more melancholic turn. The song describes Sabrina’s falling in love with the idea, or the persona of a man, but ultimately seeing through his superficial charm. The overall theme of the single is disillusionment and her protecting her self-worth from deception and being used to her partner’s advantage.

Track number 9 “Slim Pickins” leans a little into country territory in its sound. The song describes her difficulties of finding the right partner, seemingly having very little good choices available. Hence “Slim Pickins.” Since all the good ones are either dead or taken, Sabrina feels like she has to settle in love, due to the men she interacts with not fulfilling her expectations.

“Juno” takes a bit more cheeky direction in its topics. Through wordplays and references, the song nods towards Sabrina’s attraction to the physical attributes of her partner’s, as well as the topic of pregnancy. “Juno” might be a reference to the 2007 movie with the same name, about a teenage pregnancy. Furthermore, Juno is also the Roman goddess of marriage and childbirth.

“Lie To Girls” is another more melancholic entry on the album. It describes the cycle of inauthentic relationship where the man Sabrina sings about keeps lying to his girlfriend in order to keep the facade of a romance alive. However, the song discusses the trope that the girl keeps lying to herself about wanting to stay with her partner, even though she deserves better. In a sad twist of irony, it is this very concept that renders the man’s lies unnecessary in the first place.

The finale of Short n’ Sweet, “Don’t Smile,” is a play on the saying “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” However, Sabrina gives it a twist, singing,

“Don’t smile because it happened, baby
Cry because it’s over”

~ “Don’t Smile”

In reference to a relationship she wants her partner to cry because it is over. She wants them to think of her when they hold someone else. Overall, the song has a calm and melancholic ring to it, perfectly fading out the summer smash album that is Short n’ Sweet.

Hungry for more Sabrina carpenter? Don’t miss out on her Short n’ Sweet tour throughout the US and Europe

Stream “Short n’ Sweet” today, available on all major listening platforms