The summer of 2024 has been a particularly remarkable one for the pop girls. We had Taylor Swift and Beyoncé drop massively successful albums, followed by Dua Lipa (which should have been a bigger hit). Billie Eilish gave us a stellar record. Chappell Roan’s sustained and meteoric rise to fame was a major highlight of this year. To top it all off, Charli XCX’s “Brat” bloomed into that rare cultural juggernaut that percolated from musical spheres into politics and internet aesthetics. One might be forgiven for overlooking Sabrina Carpenter amongst the abundance of awesome output, except she made sure we don’t. It was hard to escape the charm of “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” the lead singles for this album that became ubiquitous hits. “Espresso” is like an earworm that never leaves, with its infectious grooves and thoroughly meme-able lyricism (I know I Mountain Dew it for ya/ That morning coffee, brewed it for ya/ One touch and I brand-newed it for ya). “Please Please Please” is a personal favorite. I have rarely come across such an expertly executed pop song that explores the sentiment of being in love with someone that society would not approve of (also, it has probably been my favorite usage of the MF expletive in a mainstream pop song in my recent memory). So, the stage was set for Sabrina to drop one of the most hotly-anticipated albums this year. Finally, we have “Short n’ Sweet” on our plate.
The album wastes no time justifying its title: “Taste” kicks off saying “I leave quite an impression/ Five feet to be exact,” into a sweet indie-rock inspired tune about revenge and betrayal. “Sharpest Tool,” a major highlight, has the handiwork of producer Jack Antonoff sprinkled all over its warm, effervescent acoustic melodies and Sabrina’s ethereal vocals crooning about being confused about what went wrong in a failed relationship. “Coincidence” sounds like a lost Joni Mitchell tune, with one of the best lines on the album (What a surprise, your phone just died/ Your car drove itself from L.A. to her thighs). “Dumb & Poetic” finds Sabrina painting herself as a fool to have fallen for a guy’s aesthetic of hollow intellectualism (Well, you crashed the car and abandoned the wreckage/ F*** with my head like it’s some kind of fetish). In just over 2 minutes, this song manages to be a tearjerker. “Slim Pickings” is hilarious, where Sabrina croons about how she is a straight woman stuck to being attracted to disappointing men and “since the Lord forgot my gay awakenin’,” she has no way out. “Don’t Smile” closes out the album in a sense of melancholy (Don’t smile because it happened, baby, cry because it’s over), with Sabrina’s syrupy sweet voice pillowed over an ambient-pop arrangement. It is a genuinely poignant moment, reminding us how difficult it is to truly move on and forget someone we love.
My major criticism of this album (and I must preface by saying that I have not heard Sabrina’s entire discography while writing this) is that in terms of Sabrina’s vocals and soundscapes, it apes Ariana Grande a bit too much. Take “Good Graces” (Don’t mistake my nice for naïve), “Juno” and “Bed Chem” for example, and you would be forgiven for thinking these are B-sides to Ariana’s “Eternal Sunshine” that came out earlier this year. At a time when artists like Kacey Musgraves, Lana Del Rey or even a younger artist like Olivia Rodrigo have pretty much carved out entire niches for themselves, this album comes off as slightly underwhelming in terms of novelty. “Juno” is a lyrical low point. It makes a cheeky reference to the 2007 movie of the same name, and while it is catchy, its lyrics read like a high-schooler’s attempt at writing bad Instagram poetry about making love.
Having said that, “Short n’ Sweet” is–even at its weakest–well-crafted, sleek-sounding, sensuous and most importantly, FUNNY. Though there are genuine danceable bops on this record, I felt the album put its best foot forward during its acoustic-driven moments. I am sure that this album will be on rotation, particularly on Instagram or TikTok reels, due to its generous dose of meme-worthy lyricism. Sabrina has a knack for taking shots at everyone in the sweetest way possible, while not being afraid to make herself the punchline in her jokes, even when she’s vulnerable. While some of her songs are directed at her partners being stupid, she is ready to acknowledge that maybe she is the idiot in gravitating towards them. Even when she’s raunchy, her candor and playfulness shine through this album. This makes me curious to check out her past records and have big expectations for whatever she will deliver next.