Sabrina Carpenter: former Disney channel star, pop icon, and most recently an opener on The Eras Tour, has released her 6th studio album titled, “Short n’ Sweet”. This album helped Carpenter achieve her first No. 1 album on the Billboard top 200 chart with her lead singles “Please Please Please” reaching No. 1, and “Espresso” at No. 3. The album is mainly pop with hints of folk and country influence in a few songs, and the general vibe of the lyrics are lightheartedness, cheekiness, and relatability, as well as some humor and sarcasm. Some of the content has been rumored to be about Carpenter’s love triangle with singers Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, and a few others confirmed to be written about her current boyfriend Barry Keoghan.
In an interview about the album, Carpenter said,
“When you’re at this point in your life where you’re almost at your wits’ end, everything is funny. So much of this album was made in the moments where there was something that I just couldn’t stop laughing about. And I was like, well, that might as well just be a whole song.”
1: Taste
This song is about petty revenge on an ex who is back together with theirs. Most of the lyrics are directed towards the other woman involved. The music video for this song stands out as Sabrina, playing herself, and Jenna Ortega, playing the girlfriend, continuously kill each other. Neither of them dies, because as Carpenter explained on set for the video, “In the Sabrina cinematic universe, women never die. Men unfortunately suffer most of the loss. This video in particular, it’s almost comical how the women still don’t die.” The video is ironic in several ways, how the women are only mad at each other and not the men, and because of the song’s bright and pop-y sound.
9/10
2: Please Please Please
With a light and airy synth and matching vocals, “Please Please Please” tells the story of a girlfriend in love with a criminal who is always landed in prison. The music video stars her real-life boyfriend Barry Keoghan constantly getting out of jail, and almost immediately being taken back. Sabrina, in the music video whose actions matches her lyrics, is begging him to stop doing this, while she consistently waits for him to get out of jail every time.
7/10
3: Good Graces
This song is an upbeat and pop-y confidence booster for those who like to be in control of their relationships. The lyrics serve as a warning to all romantically involved with her to play their cards right, or else she’ll, “Switch it up like that, so fast, cause no one’s more amazing at turning loving into hating.” One of Sabrina’s trademarks in her music is talking bits inserted as if from the studio, in this song she says, “That was cool”. With fun background vocals and a catchy beat, this song earns its place at 3rd on the track list.
10/10
4: Sharpest Tool
Track 4 is the first song that takes on topics discussed in “Taste” with a more serious tone. Sabrina describes a relationship with a man who is, “Not the sharpest tool in the shed”, who thought everything they had was casual. The lyrics mention desperation for the partner to listen to her, understand her, and value her. What Carpenter is met with, however, is a romantic partner who is unwilling to commit, unable to get over his ex, and manipulative.
8/10
5: Coincidence
This song carries strong themes of sarcasm, heartbreak, and musically, folk inspiration. It’s a continuation of the story of the man Sabrina is interested in who is more interested in his ex. The chorus of this song perfectly describes the petty and hurt feelings of being in this situation, “What a surprise, your phone just died, your car drove itself from L.A. to her thighs.”
10/10
6: Bed Chem
This song is quite possibly the biggest vibe change Sabrina could’ve put on an album. With direct references to Barry Keoghan and the night they met, these lyrics are by far the sexiest on the album, which is a large part of Sabrina’s image. With humorous and cheeky lyrics like, “Come right on me, I mean camaraderie.”, Sabrina is sticking to her guns with her style of songwriting.
9/10
7: Espresso
The other lead and hit single for the album that took the world by storm this summer, “Espresso”. This is another great confidence booster with cute and coy lyrics and a catchy sound. The music video has all the retro summer vibes anyone could ask for, with a funny storyline about Sabrina stealing a man’s credit card, and eventually being arrested.
9/10
8: Dumb & Poetic
The lyrics in this song are all too real for many people. This song includes heartbreaking songwriting with clever digs in lines like, “Just cause you talk like one, doesn’t make you a man.” The anger and resentment in this song is tangible, not just in lyrics but in vocals as well.
9/10
9: Slim Pickins
With a cute acoustic guitar and country inspired title, “Slim Pickins” is about Sabrina’s struggle to find someone who is real and worthwhile to love in the modern dating scene. She explains that because she can’t find one to truly love, she messes around with unintelligent men who she doesn’t really like by using the funny example of, “This boy doesn’t even know the difference between there, their, and they are. Yet, he’s naked in my room.”
7/10
10: Juno
Finally, a cute love song after all the heartbreak from before! “Juno” has a double meaning, the movie starring Elliot Page and Michael Cera about teenage pregnancy, and the Greek goddess of marriage and childbirth. Both references point to Sabrina saying to her love interest that if he’s good to her she might, “Let him make her Juno.”
10/10
11: Lie To Girls
In this song lies a sad truth about romance, as Sabrina puts it, “You don’t have to lie to girls, if they like you, they’ll just lie to themselves,” and continues the line with, “Like you, they’ll just lie to themselves.” A clever bit of wordplay by Carpenter.
8/10
12: Don’t Smile
The hook of this song is a play on the common phrase, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Instead, Carpenter sings, “Don’t smile because it happened, baby, cry because it’s over.” The lyrics in this song are written from the perspective of a desperate ex who hopes her ex misses her and is “crying because it’s over” because she’s not ready to move on.
8/10
