“Espresso” singer Sabrina Carpenter released her sixth studio album Short N’ Sweet, on August 23rd, 2024, her cleverness shining through each unique song. Although this is not Carpenter’s first successful album, it topped them all by debuting at No. 23 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
With lead singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” becoming summer sensations, Short N’ Sweet is Carpenter’s most highly anticipated album so far. Her latest surprise single “Taste” has also become extremely popular. The horror film-inspired music video featuring Wednesday star Jenna Ortega is currently the No. 1 trending for music on YouTube, with already over 15 million views.
All of the singles for Short N’ Sweet have music videos that connect in one way or another. At the end of “Espresso,” Carpenter finds herself going to jail; “Please Please Please” continues this narrative as she starts off the video getting bailed out (in the background, “Espresso” is playing as well). In “Please Please Please” she leaves a lipstick stain on duct tape which she used to cover her boyfriend-at-the-time, Barry Keoghan’s lips. This same piece of duct tape is shown during the first clip of her newest music video “Taste.” All of these connections are brilliant and show how clever Sabrina Carpenter’s artistic flare is.
Throughout the album, listeners experience Carpenter’s hilarious personality through her songs. From start to finish the album keeps listeners hooked. “Taste” is a wonderful song to start with, and “Don’t Smile” rounds out the album perfectly. “Don’t Smile” alters the famous quote by Dr. Suess “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened,” and concludes the album beautifully. Her comedic lyrics like “this boy doesn’t even know / the difference between “there,” “their” and “they are”, combined with her outstanding vocals make Short N’ Sweet a lovely album to listen to.
Compared to her previous albums such as Emails I Can’t Send, released in 2022, Short N’ Sweet showcases how Carpenter can effortlessly sing in numerous genres. Instead of having the same pop theme similar to her most prior release, she explores different genres including folk, R&B, and country. For example, “Good Graces” is R&B/pop, and “Slim Pickins” is completely different, being country/folk. Being so diverse confirms the notion that Sabrina Carpenter is incredibly talented.
Carpenter collaborated with famous artists such as Jack Antonoff, Julia Michaels, and Amy Allen while writing her hit album, which was genius. They efficiently perfected each song, making them unique and amazing. The album flows so nicely and surely lives up to its name.
Many of the songs off the album revolve around Carpenter’s rumored relationships throughout the past two years. She explained in an interview with Zane Lowe that for the past couple of years, most of her relationships have not lasted long but have had the biggest impacts, hence the album name. Even though Carpenter’s lyrics are mostly unserious, she still pours her emotions into each song which is what makes them so remarkable. The fact she can sing lyrics like “you’re so empathetic, you’d make a great wife” with so much passion invokes feelings within the listener that they can resonate with on a deeper level.
The album as a whole is one of Sabrina Carpenter’s finest works, and is great for anyone in a fun or energetic mood. Similar to the title, even though it is Short it’s most definitely Sweet.
