By Olivia Turner | Arts & Life Editor
Sabrina Carpenter’s new album released on Aug. 23, “Short n’ Sweet,” is super sassy, a little bit sorrowful and unapologetically suggestive. Full of unfiltered confessions and bashing of boyfriends’ bad behavior, this album bares much, but still leaves the listener guessing at some select details in the songs.
Honing in on the highs and lows of her past loves, Carpenter shows that while she is indeed short and sweet, she can also be fierce and fed up with being mistreated in her relationships. Several of the tracks on this collection could be considered break up anthems, but Sabrina doesn’t seem too sad about it — at least for the first few songs. But perhaps some of the most blasé songs hide the worst hurt.
Starting off strong with “Taste,” I am definitely savoring the bitterness Sabrina has for whichever poor guy and girl she is singing about in this one. It’s been rumored her mystery betrayers are supposedly Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello. My jaw dropped at that pivotal line: “You’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissing you.” How do you like the taste of that, Camila? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — I think this is the best track on the album.
Next up, “Please Please Please,” one of the viral singles off this album, is nothing new to listen to. We’ve all heard this hit’s chorus all over TikTok, but I guess that’s a credit to Miss Sabrina and her successes. Get that bag, girl!
The rage party continues on into this next track. Carpenter is not taking crap from any guy in “Good Graces.” She makes it plain and simple to a lilting melody akin to something fellow short queen and pop icon Ariana Grande might have released — do not play with her feelings.
In “Sharpest Tool,” shots have been fired and claws sunk. The way Carpenter sings about this song’s subject kind of makes me wonder why she was even with him in the first place. Such a sweet and airy tune seems almost wrong for a song as scolding as this.
This next breakup banger transports me back to summer camp with how lively and aggressively the guitar gets strummed, almost like an anger-infused version of “Canyon Moon” by Harry Styles. According to TikTok, I’m not the only one who hears it. And speaking of strings, this one tugged on my heart.
Here’s where the 180 happens from hatred to adoration. Introducing: “Bed Chem.”
When listening to solely the melody, this song takes on an unsuspecting 80’s city pop vibe. However, upon a closer listen to the lyrics, there are many naughty innuendos to be discovered, especially in the bridge which had me really rolling. If this is the same guy she was singing about before, it almost makes you wanna forgive him for all the terrible betrayals she was just singing about in previous tracks.
“Bed Chem” is certainly suggestive, but cleverly and tastefully done, as Carpenter always tends to do. I should have known by her creative custom outros for “Nonsense” while on the Taylor Swift Eras tour that we would be getting an album full of not-so-subtle sex jokes. Just a word of advice — don’t play this if your mother happens to be listening along nearby.
Onto the other hot hit from this album, “Espresso.” I don’t mean to pat myself on the back, but when Carpenter first released this song as a single I just knew it was going to be big. Though, moving on from this track, I honestly feel the album begins to lose a bit of momentum.
“Dumb & Poetic” and “Slim Pickins” (basically savage roast sessions in song form) seem to go hand-in-hand, though they have different sounds to them with “Slim Pickins” coming across much more uppity and folksy.
“Juno,” (not to be confused with Clairo’s hit “Juna”), is a cutesy little tune that could be dedicated to all the girls out there with major crushes. Here, Carpenter seems to switch back to reflecting on better moments in her relationships with fondness.
For some reason, Carpenter’s next track “Lie to Girls” is the saddest to me. There’s just something so sorrowfully universal about the bit which goes:
“My mother and my sisters, all my, all my friends / The girl outside the strip club getting her to-go drink / We love to read the cold, hard facts and swear they’re incorrect”
Ugh! Men.
“Don’t Smile” brings the album to what is in my opinion a rather anti-climactic close. But then again, maybe Carpenter didn’t intend for it to be.
In this album, I found so much relatability thanks to Carpenter’s brutal (and sometimes bloody) honesty, and I’m sure fans feel similarly. Her clever lyricism blew me away, but that was to be expected. For every song I wasn’t crazy about, the ones that I loved made up for them tenfold. In only 36 minutes, Sabrina Carpenter, you became one of my top favorite artists this year. Now isn’t that sweet?
