Chappell, Charlie and Carpenter: it’s truly been the summer of poptimism. Sabrina Carpenter’s singles have kept us up, begging please and left quite an impression. Short n’ Sweet has been one of the most highly anticipated pop records this year, Carpenter’s sixth album boasting collaborations with studio legends like Julian Bunetta, Amy Allen and Jack Antonoff. Short n’ Sweet showcases a new evolving sound for Carpenter, promising layered vocal harmonies, evolved production and a consistently glittery sound.
Taste opens the album like a bursting pop up card, brimming with confidence and punchy jabs at the woman her lover went crawling back to. Carpenter coolly delivers ‘I heard you’re back together and if that’s true / You’ll have to taste me when he’s kissing you’ her cutting lyrics smoothed only by her buttery warm tone. Carpenter calls to the camp theatrics of Death Becomes Her as she shares the screen with Jenna Ortega in a wild cat and mouse chase music video.
No track can carry on from this opener other than Carpenter’s single Please Please Please, which holds a humble billion streams on Spotify alone. Armed with a killer music video with Carpenter's beau, BAFTA award-winner Barry Keoghan, it was impossible to escape this song on the radio airwaves or your phone screens this summer.
As the single topped No.1 on the Hot 100 chart, its unexpected hints of high strings, layered vocals and earnest lyrics capturing the public worldwide.
It's no easy feat to carry on from a multi-platinum single and this is where I’m afraid Short n’ Sweet buckles stylistically. Whilst Good Graces brings with it a tongue and cheek, 90’s inspired RnB track, it struggles to provide anything more. Unfortunately, the track lacks the originality and hook of her other songs, but it is undeniable that her chorus outro “I won’t give a f**k about you” will be a fan favourite to scream in her anticipated stadium tours.
It’s Sabrina Carpenter’s unwavering theatricality in both her recorded and live performances which solidifies her coronation as pop’s latest princess. The lead single Espresso was responsible for launching an entire look and mindset from the showers of April into dwindling remaining days of August. Adorned with her trademark bronzed aesthetic and round brush bangs, Carpenter’s Espresso was the summer staple.
Juno and Bed Chem lean into these more conventional pop influences among the other album tracks which seem to reach into a more country twang that weaves throughout Short n Sweet. Bed Chem brings a flirtatious, funky sound as she asks ‘Where art thou? Why not uponeth me? / See it in my mind, let's fulfill the prophecy’.
In true Carpenter fashion her lyrics are particularly clever, littered with sneaky double entendre and literary references. Her buttery questions somewhat juxtapose her high hitting vocals that while technically impressive can grate after the songs 3-minute duration. Juno while being a strong pop song, provides a sense of sonic whiplash in-between the more stripped back guitar twangs of Slim Pickins and Lie To Girls.
This leads to Short n’ Sweet’s fatal flaw, that whilst each track individually shines, it seems incoherent and jumbled in places. It feels like it can’t decide whether to partake in the Beyoncé and Lana Del Rey country revival and so dabbles here and there without fully committing to a sound. However, this doesn’t take away from the skilful crafting of these songs as separate and individual entities.
Sharpest Tool and Coincidence are the main culprits for the country twang that weaves in and out of Short n’ Sweet. Stained with Antonoff’s influence, Sharpest Tool stars as a beautiful melt of melody and guitar picking, almost reminiscent of a Sufjan Steven’s song. The use of windchimes gives the song a glittery sound that compliments her softer heartfelt vocals and harmonies. Yet, as the song moves away from the twee guitar picking, I was left wishing we were allowed to stay in the stripped back sound for longer. As the syllables of Coincidence roll around in Carpenter’s mouth, the track becomes a postcard for campfires and green forest cabins.
Slim Pickins doubles down on the country twang as Carpenter quickly writes off the man who can’t hack the homophone ‘there, their and they’re.’ As Carpenter mulls over the fact beggars can’t be choosers, the plucking's of banjos and fiddle sing throughout the song. Lie To Girls starts to continue the stripped back guitars heard throughout the album but evolves into one of the most unexpectedly experimental songs on the record.
Carpenter’s textured vocals seem to act like a ghostly warning before the left field tonal shift around the early minute mark, cutting through the track with a distorted vocal sample. The more experimental production from Antonoff leaves the record in a spacey and transient sound, Don’t Smile finishing the record with a melodic and rich moody feeling.
While Sabrina Carpenter releases her first album in 2015, there is a lot of hopeful buzz around a potential best new artist award at the Grammys. And in our new era of poptimism, whilst Short n’ Sweet stalls in places it is still a highly intoxicating album. So that leaves the question, is it that sweet? I guess so.
Released on 23rd August 2024 Sabrina Carpenter's brand new album Short n’ Sweet is available now on all major platforms.
Article By Millie Cairns
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