Short n' Sweet
Some people kill their nemeses with kindness; Sabrina Carpenter, the breakout pop star of summer 2024, takes the opposite tack, shooting withering one-liners at loser exes via featherlight melodies, a wink and a smile. The former Disney Channel star began her music career at age 15 with her 2014 debut single “Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying.” Now 25, the singer-songwriter is making the catchiest, funniest, and most honest music of her career at a moment when all the world’s watching. But on songs like “Please Please Please,” on which she begs her boyfriend not to embarrass her (again), she’s poking fun at herself, too. “A lot of what I really love about this album is the accountability,” she tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “I will call myself out just as much as I will call out someone else.” It’s not because Carpenter’s “vertically challenged,” as she puts it, that she named her sixth album *Short n’ Sweet*. “I thought about some of these relationships, how some of them were the shortest I’ve ever had and they affected me the most,” she tells Lowe. “And I thought about the way that I respond to situations: Sometimes it is very nice, and sometimes it’s not very nice.” Hence songs like “Dumb & Poetic,” a gentle acoustic ballad that’s also a blistering takedown of a guy who masks his sleazy tendencies with therapy buzzwords and a highbrow record collection, or the twangy, hilarious “Slim Pickins,” on which she croons: “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.” With good humor and good taste (channeling Rilo Kiley here, Kacey Musgraves there, and on “Sharpest Tool,” a bit of The Postal Service), Carpenter reframes heartbreak through the lens of life’s absurdity. “When you’re at this point in your life where you’re almost at your wits’ end, everything is funny,” Carpenter tells Lowe. “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.” Carpenter wrote a good deal of the album on an 11-day trip to a tiny town in rural France, where the isolation unlocked her brutally honest side, resulting in unprecedentedly vulnerable music and one song she readily admits shouldn’t work on paper but hits anyway: “Espresso,” the song that catapulted her career with four delightfully strange-sounding words: “That’s that me espresso.” “There really are no rules to the things you say,” she tells Lowe on the songwriting process. “You’re just like, what sounds awesome? What feels awesome? And what gets the story across, whatever story that is?” Still, she’s painted herself in a bit of a corner when it comes to placing an order at coffee shops worldwide: “They’re just waiting for me to say it,” she laughs. “And I’m like, ‘Tea.’”
After a summer of hit singles, Sabrina Carpenter sets a high bar for big pop with a refreshingly light album that’s cheeky, clever, and effortlessly executed.
After a summer of hit singles, Sabrina Carpenter sets a high bar for big pop with a refreshingly light album that’s cheeky, clever, and effortlessly executed.
Creative control looks good on Sabrina Carpenter, who swings for the big leagues on latest record 'Short n' Sweet' - read the NME review:
Sabrina Carpenter totes memeable punchlines on Short n' Sweet's mainstream breakthrough.
Creative control looks good on Sabrina Carpenter, who swings for the big leagues on latest record 'Short n' Sweet' - read the NME review:
Sabrina Carpenter totes memeable punchlines on Short n' Sweet's mainstream breakthrough.
Sabrina Carpenter’s 'Short n' Sweet' demonstrates pop princess potential in great moments that don’t necessarily add up to a great record.
Espresso feels like a real outlier on this country-pop influenced release – it’s a shame, because Carpenter’s USP is her sharp sense of humour
Sabrina Carpenter’s 'Short n' Sweet' demonstrates pop princess potential in great moments that don’t necessarily add up to a great record.
Espresso feels like a real outlier on this country-pop influenced release – it’s a shame, because Carpenter’s USP is her sharp sense of humour
‘Espresso’ and ‘Please Please Please’ are far from the only cool moments on this long-awaited record
‘Espresso’ and ‘Please Please Please’ are far from the only cool moments on this long-awaited record
Sabrina Carpenter is the 5ft pop star with a penchant for dirty jokes. Is her breakthrough album more than just 'nonsense'? Read our review of Short n' Sweet
Sabrina Carpenter is the 5ft pop star with a penchant for dirty jokes. Is her breakthrough album more than just 'nonsense'? Read our review of Short n' Sweet
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'Short n’ Sweet' is Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth album - but it’s her spiritual sophomore, since 2022’s 'emails i can’t send' catapulted her into the
'Short n’ Sweet' is Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth album - but it’s her spiritual sophomore, since 2022’s 'emails i can’t send' catapulted her into the
Unexpected flashes of wit make Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Short n’ Sweet’ much more than just a polished slice of pop.
Unexpected flashes of wit make Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Short n’ Sweet’ much more than just a polished slice of pop.
Sabrina Carpenter's 'Short n' Sweet' displays her ability to imbue pristine pop production with personal flair, sparking a long overdue breakout.
Sabrina Carpenter's 'Short n' Sweet' displays her ability to imbue pristine pop production with personal flair, sparking a long overdue breakout.
Short N Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter album album review by Sam Franzini. The artist's LP is now available via Island Records and DSPs
Short N Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter album album review by Sam Franzini. The artist's LP is now available via Island Records and DSPs
Sabrina Carpenter - Short N Sweet review: Short, but not as sweet as advertised
Sabrina Carpenter - Short N Sweet review: Short, but not as sweet as advertised
The star’s frothy hit Espresso shot her into the spotlight, but this smart, witty album on modern dating shows she’s here for the long haul
The star’s frothy hit Espresso shot her into the spotlight, but this smart, witty album on modern dating shows she’s here for the long haul
The star’s breezy collection of songs treads a thin line between frivolous and throwaway. Isn’t that just what a pop album should do?
The star’s breezy collection of songs treads a thin line between frivolous and throwaway. Isn’t that just what a pop album should do?