Sabrina Carpenter calls “Short n’ Sweet” her sophomore album, even though she’s been releasing music for nearly a decade. The “Espresso” starlet likens the new release to “a companion [to 2022’s “emails i can’t send”],” but tells Variety it’s not the same — meaning pop’s princess finally has “full creative control being a full-fledged adult.” Most of that is, in fact, true: when inside the Disney machine — as was Carpenter as a star in the 2014 ‘90s sitcom reboot, “Girl Meets World” — the network’s breakout stars sign their soul away to Hollywood Records where they endure a grueling limelight cocktail that, oftentimes, end with a stint in rehab.
Luckily, that wasn’t Carpenter. She stuck to acting long after Disney, with roles such as Netflix’s “Tall Girl” duology, even while still chained to her former employer’s music entity. Or that was the case up until “emails i can’t send,” Carpenter’s self-proclaimed debut album, fifth overall, released under Universal Music’s Island Records label, and a masterful pop clapback at ex Joshua Bassett, who wrongfully painted Carpenter as the other woman in an unwarranted love triangle alongside fellow Disney breakout Olivia Rodrigo. More importantly, the 2022 release jump started the “Nonsense” singer’s metamorphosis from the scarlet “Disney ex-act” monogram towards pop superstardom.
Aside from making herself a household name while opening for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour during its international legs earlier this year, Carpenter’s “emails i can’t send” was pop genius. It was a 23-year-old’s flirty tell-all about being in love at the wrong time, brimming with chicken-scratched ramblings that are hypothetically poetic, and brewed with enough emotional turmoil to keep pop culture junkies awake unpacking not only its soft pop production, but the correlation between each lyric and tabloid headlines.
Needless to say, its follow up had to be more than a home run — it needed to be a grand slam — and as it would have it, Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet” is an instant and undeniable knockout. Upon its first listen, it feels like a cosplay of Kacey Musgraves if Musgraves broke into Dolly Parton’s songwriting vault, yet still, Carpenter effortlessly manages to find a youth-centric flair that lends just enough sexy intrigue for limitless radio airplay — a knack of the singer’s as of late.
Summer blockbuster singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” are not only Billboard chart-toppers; they are the glittery centerpieces of “Short n’ Sweet.” Together, they make album opener, “Taste” (also the latest album single), an equally dazzling concoction of indie pop production spiked with “Jolene”-isms and a campy horror video treatment from legendary music video director Dave Meyers (Taylor Swift, SZA, Ariana Grande, etc.), which stars “Wednesday” actress Jenna Ortega. Compared to the album’s promotional singles, “Taste” is an accurate measure of Carpenter’s growth from 2022’s shy, doe-eyed snapshot to today’s kiss-stained siren.
“Good Graces” and “Bed Chem” also fall into modern pop perfection, where Sabrina’s sexual innuendo is more smoldering flirty than overcooked pandering. Though fun in their own right, these two tracks are polar opposites on the danceability spectrum: where “Good Graces” employs a bubbalicious phone synth that sages the space of indecisive lovers, “Bed Chem” is an underrated “softburn” that pulses between the sheets, the song’s groovy guitars, and Carpenter’s dreamy falsettos and oo-ahh adlibs.
The first half of “Short n’ Sweet” is perhaps what pop perfection is all about, entertaining listeners with a variety of late summer sunset melodies, namely on “Sharpest Tool,” where its dark love-stricken candor doesn’t necessarily bite the dust. The “we never talk about it” refrains bubble with the last bright remnants of summer love, and it’s a pure treat to witness the serendipitous moment when genius storytelling and beautiful acoustics rewrite a traditional sad song into something better than an album cushion.
However, Carpenter boxes herself inside the carefully curated “Short n’ Sweet” sound too soon. Every fresh pick-up line or disarming love-life detail past the 15-minute mark feels tired, no matter what order the album is played. By the time ballad-y tracks like “Dumb & Poetic” and “Slim Pickins” start playing, the nostalgic rays of “Sharpest Tool” have long dissipated. Instead, the lyrics shine like first-place trophies until they rub away green, pumped with fodder toxic relationship-isms, an uninventive Leonard Cohen comparison, and other predictable “red flag” behaviors that should’ve better smithed by the four-person songwriting team, compromising of Carpenter and Julia Michaels, before belting out situational hardships that were not only heard word-for-word on “emails i can’t send,” but better said by other (bigger) singer-songwriters.
Unfortunately, the repetitive nature of “Short n’ Sweet” also bores the naturally fun and horny nature of “Juno.” Lyrically, the buzzy track offers nothing different from “Bed Chem” or the album’s radio-candy singles, save for a few out-of-pocket explicits that make it an immediate fan favorite. However, aside from the track’s edgy soft-rock production, the album track isn’t all that memorable in the grand scheme of “Short n’ Sweet”, where brighter moments ultimately take the spotlight.
Perhaps the unclear inspiration surrounding “Short n’ Sweet” is part of the dilemma. Though it’s common for artists to put each other on their mood boards, they usually express such music connections as a selling point during press. Carpenter sold herself as the main attraction, which is a huge wager: although she is today’s pop princess, she’s a superstardom newbie and lacks the notoriety of influential figures like Dolly Parton, who clearly inspired this record’s coy lyricism.
Still, Carpenter takes another bold step forward and presents another modern pop masterpiece with “Short n’ Sweet.” She’s transformed from innocent promiscuity, to a mature adult who now has the final say in her love life: when things go right, she’s on a roll; when things fall through, Carpenter knows how to pick up the pieces. While “emails i can’t send” has a better lyrical grasp on sad songs, there’s no denying “Short n’ Sweet” is deserving of praise for promoting boy-optional love and fun, especially with the great “Sharpest Tool” spearheading the record’s retrospective relational turbulence.
Carpenter not sharing her album’s musical inspiration can be viewed as an industry no-no, but positioning herself main attraction ultimately safeguards Carpenter’s chance at becoming a pop music beacon for the new generation. For some clarification, “Short n’ Sweet” isn’t her ticket to pop stardom so much as it’s her victory lap, thanks to last year’s hyper-successful singles “Nonsense” and “Feather,” and recent summer hits “Espresso,” and “Please Please Please.” Every accolade from here on out is another cherry red-lipped kiss of success that was ten years in the making.
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