Short n' Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter // Album Review
Sabrina Carpenter's Short n' Sweet is a vibrant blend of sugar, spice, and everything nice! These twelve tracks are truly future pop classics. She somehow finds a way to deliver the most infectious hooks with true sincerity and raw emotion, all while also unexpectedly incorporating so many hilarious and quotable one liners.
The album's title doesn't necessarily only pertain to her short stature, which is five feet to be exact, but more so is a reference to her love life and the most impactful relationships she's had. In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Sabrina explained, "I called it Short n' Sweet for multiple reasons. It was not because I'm vertically challenged...I thought about some of these relationships and how some of them were the shortest I've ever had, and they affected me the most."
Although the virality of songs like "Nonsense" and "Feather", along with a string of massive festival performances and opening for Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour all gave her career a massive push and seemingly overnight made her into a household name - it took many years for her to get to this moment. On the outside, it can seem like she came out of nowhere as this fully-formed pop star, but her journey is proof that sometimes it takes ten years to be considered an overnight success.
Sabrina told Variety that she views Short n' Sweet as the "hot older sister" of her 2022 emails i can't send, which was her first release under Island Records. While this is technically her sixth album, with her first four being released as a teenager under Disney's Hollywood Records, Sabrina now considers Short n' Sweet to be her sophomore album because of how much she feels this music truly represents who she is and the artist she wants to be seen as. "It's my second 'big girl' album; it's a companion but it's not the same," she added in her interview with Variety. "When it comes to having full creative control and being a full-fledged adult, I would consider this a sophomore album."
Her early music has a lot of good moments too, but I suppose it just wasn't enough for her to be able to break out of the Disney bubble at that time. emails i can't send is the first album by Sabrina that made me really take note of her as an artist and immediately I was blown away by her incredible vocals and her overall artistic vision for this world she was creating within her music. Her persistence got her to where she is today and that is something really admirable to see. The closest I can compare her career trajectory to thus far is to someone like Ariana Grande or Selena Gomez, both of which were also former child stars that were able to break out of that mold when they were older and achieve massive success in music. I have always been a big fan of both of them and love to see Sabrina fill that gap for a new generation. She occupies this space in music that few are in right now, which is knowing the art of making high quality well-written pop hits that are very fun to listen to but aren't just mass-produced for the sake of a TikTok hit. She makes it evident in this album that she knows her strengths and can play into them really well.
On Short n' Sweet, Sabrina worked again with many of the same collaborators from emails i can't send. She co-wrote all twelve tracks with Amy Allen, along with appearances by her other frequent co-writers and producers. Julia Michaels, Ian Kirkpatrick, and John Ryan also worked on a big portion of the album, among others. Several songs were also made with first-time collaborator and my favorite pop music hoarder, Jack Antonoff. This album serves as a great evolution of her last record, now showcasing an even more cohesive and refined sound than emails i can't send. The best part of Sabrina's music is that she is unafraid to let her real personality and humor shine through in every single song on this album. On Short n' Sweet especially, she is able to just have fun and not take herself too seriously at all. Even on some of the more heartfelt songs, there are still hilarious one-liners laced throughout that keep it really light. That paired with her unbridled confidence in herself is really what sets her apart from a lot of her peers in the industry.
The first introduction we got into Short n' Sweet was with the now iconic "Espresso", initially just supposed to be "a little song" for her to perform at Coachella back in April. It quickly took off and became a phenomenon that I don't think anyone could have expected. It perfectly blends pop, funk and even a little bit of a disco influence into what went on to become one of the biggest hits of the entire year. Sabrina describes the rush of a new relationship in such a cute way, with super fun word-play throughout the song. "That's that me espresso" is probably the most iconic line from the song, but "I'm working late, cause I'm a singer" and "I know I Mountain Dew it for ya" are just a few more of the most quotable phrases from this song that immediately entered the cultural lexicon. "The song is kind of about seeing femininity as your superpower, and embracing the confidence of being that bitch," Sabrina told Vogue in an interview.
The success of "Espresso" then was able to perfectly set up "Please Please Please" to be the massive hit that it became. It was her first song ever to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and received wide critical acclaim. Honestly, "Espresso" walked so "Please Please Please" could run!
This was the first song she released from her collaborations with both Amy Allen and Jack Antonoff, which showcases the other side of the sonic direction she would be taking with the rest of Short n' Sweet. It is very different than "Espresso", with it being more mid-tempo with even the slightest country twang to it, which I think was an essential creative choice that she made with this album overall as it would have been repetitive if it was just trying to continue to replicate that sound again and again. Sabrina opens up about her fear of being let down in her new relationship, as she literally begs him to not embarrass her like all the rest did as she sings in the chorus; "Heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another, I beg you don't embarrass me, motherf*cker".
"I like the fact that I just put out a song that starts with 'I can't relate to desperation,' and then I'm putting out the most desperate possible sounding chorus I could in my life," Sabrina said in an interview with Time about "Espresso" and "Please Please Please". "The idea is like: if everything is super calculated, then the second you make a statement, that's who you are for the rest of your life - as opposed to it being like: or you can be super confident one day and then the most emotional wreck the next day." These two songs perfectly represent both sides of the album as she flips between her signature flirty confidence and finding new love, back into more vulnerable topics of fear, heartbreak and confusion over the way her last relationship ended.
If you're more into "Espresso", then there's going to be a lot of songs for you on this album - if you're more into "Please Please Please", then there will be a lot of songs for you too. If you love both, then even better! That dichotomy of those two songs is very prevalent throughout the entirety of the album and switches back and forth seamlessly throughout. She clearly draws from a lot of influences that she is able to expertly blend together into her own unique sound.
The album begins with "Taste", which sets up this love triangle storyline that runs throughout a big part of Short n' Sweet. This song in particular is the only one specifically directed toward her ex-boyfriend's on again off again girlfriend. "Now I'm gone, but you're still layin' next to me, one degree of separation,' she sings in the chorus, "I heard you're back together and if that's true, you'll just have to taste me when he's kissin' you, if you want forever, and I bet you do, just know you'll taste me too". It also serves as the album's third single, paired with a great music video that brings much of the lyrical themes to life in such a perfect way. In an interview with KISS 108 FM, Sabrina said, "It’s sort of poking fun of myself a little bit for my mistakes and also poking fun at the, kind of like, facepalm that is life ... It’s a very human thing but it’s certainly fun."
Short n' Sweet definitely gets off to a really great start, I love the she's unafraid to be a little petty and maybe even a little vindictive - but still keeps it cute and lighthearted at the same time. The following song, "Good Graces" very much feels that way too, which is so much fun and is guaranteed to get stuck in your head all day. It's kind of a mix between "Please Please Please" and "Feather", which are two of her best songs blended into one!
Her work with Jack Antonoff and Amy Allen on this album really pushed her in a new direction musically that I think was able to turn Short n' Sweet into something distinctive in her discography away from everything she has ever made before. In many of the songs they worked on together, she focuses on trying to make sense of these mixed signals she was getting from her ex and the confusion and heartbreak she was left with in the aftermath of that relationship ending. "Sharpest Tool" is among one of the best moments on Short n' Sweet for how open and vulnerable it is without her trying to overtly play into any kind of character that she may or may not present herself as in her pop star persona. In several interviews Sabrina also called it the most emotional song on the album for her, which really does shine through in her delivery of these lyrics. It is so smoothly written and performed, with one of the most gorgeous melodies of the entire album. "We never talk about how you found God at your ex's house, always made sure that the phone was face-down, seems like overnight I'm just the bitch you hate now," she sings in the refrain.
It still does have the same charm and personality as the rest of the album, but it also just gives a deeper insight into what her real feelings were at this point in her life, not sugarcoated at all. "Coincidence" in a lot of ways goes in tandem with the storyline of "Sharpest Tool", but kind of takes more of a sarcastic approach and again, her delivery is top notch which is continuously one of the best aspects of Sabrina as an artist. There's some musicians that have songs with similarly witty or playful lyrics, but just don't have the right delivery for it, but Sabrina really does nail that aspect of her music every single time and makes it sound so effortless. My absolute favorite part is the bridge of the song, "What a surprise, your phone just died, your car drove itself from L.A. to her thighs, Palm Springs looks nice, but who's by your side? Damn it, she looks kinda like the girl you outgrew, least that's what you said, what a coincidence!"
She drills into her ex even harder later in the album, with one of the most cutting and harsh being track eight, "Dumb & Poetic". It opens with, "You're so dumb and poetic, it's just what I fall for, I like the aesthetic, every self-help book, you've already read it, cherry-pick lines like they're words you invented," which kind of tells the listener everything they need to know about the type of person she's dealing with. At just over two minutes long, the song feels a bit too short (it's still sweet, of course), but could have benefited from a stronger chorus to build upon the really sharp verses. The rest of the album, although many of the songs also fall around the same length of just about two and half minutes long, they sound a lot more complete and aren't necessarily lacking anything.
For about half of the album, Sabrina does lean into a little bit of a country influence. Up until "Please Please Please" was released, that was something I wouldn't have thought we would be hearing from her. I love that she is unafraid of experimenting at this point in her career and is open to trying new sounds and drawing influence from many different directions. "Slim Pickins" is the most full-on country song of them all, with a delivery akin to classic Dolly Parton and is laugh out loud funny all the way through. One of the funniest lines of the entire album is, "This boy doesn't even know the difference between 'there,' 'their' and 'they are', yet he's naked in my room". In the song she details all of the ways she has given up hope on finding love and is instead now opting to "be here in the kitchen servin' up some moanin' and bitchin'". She is simply asking for "A boy who's nice that breathes", but can't find one anywhere! At the end, she's declares that she's either going to be alone forever or just settle for someone else since "the Lord forgot my gay awakening".
While about half of the album follows a complicated love triangle, where she is left hopeless of ever finding true love again, the other half of Short n' Sweet goes in the complete opposite direction as Sabrina is looking onward to a new love she finally found. This part of the album is very fun and very flirty, she doesn't hold anything back as she fully embraces her sexuality and femininity. These songs are somewhat in the same vein as "Espresso" in terms of them all being perfectly crafted pop songs, which is a feat she pulls off again and again throughout the record. "Bed Chem" is among the highlights of the record in that regard, which is a glittering pop song that is filled with wild innuendos and among the most provocative moments of the record. "Come right on me, I mean camaraderie" or "Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?" are just two examples of some of the most hilariously unserious lines of the entire album.
The parts of Short n' Sweet that are just so playful and cheeky in this way really just adds so much to the charm of Sabrina as an artist. Listening for the first time, you just never know what she's about to say next, which honestly, I think we need more of in music these days! She continues to declare her love for her new boyfriend later in the album on "Juno" as she sings, "If you love me right, then who knows? I might let you make me Juno" - which is cleverly referencing both the goddess of love and marriage, as well as the 2007 film of the same name, which also focuses on themes of love and pregnancy. "One of me is cute, but two though?" Sabrina sings in the chorus. The song is very fun and doesn't hold back at all in sharing this deep connection she has with her partner, in which she continues to get increasingly more explicit as song goes on and even states the obvious of "I'm so fucking horny" in the bridge. There are so many stand-out lines from this song that again, just continue to make me laugh out loud every time I hear them. It is also masterfully produced and full of shimmering 80's synths. Not to mention it is another effortlessly flawless vocal performance from Sabrina.
The album ends a bit slower than I would have expected, especially after all of the fun and lighthearted moments that make up the bulk of Short n' Sweet. However, the final two songs also do feature some of the strongest vocals and lyricism of the entire record.
"Lie To Girls" explores the ups and downs of dating in the modern age as a woman, detailing all of the trials and tribulations that have somehow become universal experiences. The final line of the second verse poignantly puts these emotions into words, "We love to read the cold, hard facts and swear they're incorrect, we love to mistake butterflies for cardiac arrest".
The closing track of Short n' Sweet is called "Don't Smile" and I often think of it as if it were the song rolling at the ending credits of this album, fading out as the metaphorical party of ends. On this song she takes the common phrase "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" and reverses it to "Don't smile because it happened, baby, cry because it's over". In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, she opened up about the inspiration behind the song; "That title is so... it's on every Pinterest board, on every sewn pillow, but the opposite; don't cry because it's over but smile because it happened, and I was like 'fuck that'." Much of the song draws from the same emotions of track one "Taste", but doesn't necessarily resolve any of the complicated emotions surrounding the situation she was looped into and doesn't outwardly forgive them either. Instead, she opens up about how these feelings she has been so vulnerable about still linger from time to time and that's just the reality of it. "Don't Smile" is among the most emotional and heartfelt moments of the record, and beautifully closes the chapter on this part of her life.
Sabrina Carpenter's Short n' Sweet is such a beautiful showcase of her continued growth and maturity as a woman and as an artist and I can't wait to see where she goes next. This album is filled with really fun and smart songwriting, with immaculate production and vocal performances throughout. It is such a great steppingstone from where she left off on emails i can't send and onward into the artist she is still becoming. Sabrina's personality shines through in every single song, making it one of the most captivating albums released this year.
Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below! 💋
Photo Credit: Sabrina Carpenter, Island Records
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