Sabrina Carpenter released her latest album ‘Short n’ Sweet’ on Aug 23, 2024. This is her sixth studio album, with 12 songs and a runtime of 36 minutes.

In this album, Carpenter dives head first into her cheeky humor, which was explored in the song “Nonsense” from her last album, ‘emails i can’t send’.

In an interview with the YouTube channel Hot Ones, Carpenter talks about deciding what songs should go on the album. She says that she has to find the distinction between what would normally be put on a record versus something that she personally wants to put on a record, stating, “…whatever feels the most honest and connects to me the most, I feel will connect with other people.” This leads to a more authentic and personal listening experience.

As this album primarily focuses on upbeat songs, there are fewer emotional ballads such as “opposite”, and “things i wish you said”, as heard on the album ‘emails i can’t send fwd:’ (the deluxe edition of ‘emails i can’t send’).  Nine of the 12 tracks are focused on being pure fun.

Track four, “Sharpest Tool”, is the first standout of the album for me. It surrounds the topic of a relationship on the edge, and how the two never talk about their issues between themselves. The subject at hand usually entails a more somber tone, but it’s how fun the beat is that makes this song so intriguing to me. I personally love it when an artist tackles sadder subjects by using upbeat instrumentals. The pre-chorus is my favorite part of this song, as it creates an impactful flow by utilizing repetition of the last and first words of each line “We were going right, then you took a left / left me with a lot of s*** to second guess/guess I’ll waste another year on wondering if/if that was casual then I’m an idiot….” This draws the listener through to the pre-chorus and feels very seamless.

Track 5, “Coincidence”, has a lot of the features I look for in a song; a beautiful acoustic guitar that’s prominent when lyrics are absent, a beat that has claps in it, and later on in the song when she repeats the chorus, she repeats the previous line but in a playful whisper. “And you’ve lost all your common sense (you lost all your common sense) /The way you told me the truth minus 7% (minus 7%) /What a coincidence.” It’s a simple way to change the sound, but it adds an extra layer to the already flirty chorus.

Track 7, “Espresso”, was the lead single for the album, released on April 11, 2024, setting the tone for her new era. Instead of having an introduction to the rest of the song, as most songs tend to have, she dove head first into the chorus which immediately hooks the listener. As the lead single, it perfectly set the tone, preparing us for what we would see in the rest of the album layered with double entendres, cheeky lines, and beats that will be stuck in our heads for months.

Track 12, “Don’t Smile”, is the final track on the album and my personal favorite. Sonically it strays away a bit from the rest of the album and focuses on more of an R&B vibe. In this song, Sabrina flips the saying “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” into “don’t smile because it happened, cry because it’s over,” placing a veil of regret over any positive reminiscing on the good parts of a relationship. She also goes on to say, “Oh you’re supposed to think about me every time you hold her.” This paints a picture of a girl trapped in regret and unable to move on from this person, wishing that they too are unable to move on from her. With an interesting story to follow and a calming rhythm, this song is a hard stand out to me and a sucker-punch end to an otherwise upbeat album.

Overall, this album is a huge step in Sabrina Carpenter’s career. It demonstrates her ability to have some nuance in her music, specifically in the sound of her songs. There’s nothing here that we haven’t necessarily seen before in some capacity, but this album dives deeper into what makes Sabrina Carpenter so unique. Her humor, heart, and talent made this album so great, and those same things will no doubt show us more amazing projects from her in the future.

I give this album a 10/10.