'Please, Please, Please' listen to 'Short n' Sweet'

When it comes to Sabrina Carpenter's music, I usually either love it or hate it. I have a few of her songs sprinkled throughout my playlists, but I hardly ever listen to her albums all the way through. Historically, they just haven’t made a big impression on me. 

So when I say that her latest release, “Short n’ Sweet,” is a no-skip album, I am not using that title lightly. In fact, it is the only album I’ve listened to since its release on Friday. 

The success of “Short n’ Sweet” shouldn’t have been surprising, given the popularity of the album’s two singles, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.” These two songs were indicators of the album's strong points: wit, humor and sonic variety.

“Espresso,” the album’s first single, went viral and introduced new listeners to Carpenter’s tongue-in-cheek wit and love for a double entendre. Lyrics like “I know I Mountain Dew it for ya” are easy to miss, but by releasing “Espresso” as a single, Carpenter set listeners up for an album full of these plays on words. Her wit is most prominent on the album’s sixth track, “Bed Chem.” I think this song is one of the best on the album, featuring addictive beats and smart, flirtatious lyricism. 

While the meaning behind some lyrics are more overt than those in “Espresso,” songs like "Bed Chem" are a great example of how Carpenter seamlessly blends the explicit with the humorous, resulting in music that is honest, unfiltered and free. 

It is Carpenter’s embrace of sexual freedom and promiscuity, alongside the song’s captivating beat and flawless vocals, that makes the album’s tenth track, “Juno,” a standout song. Her transparency creates an intimate connection between herself and her listener. For example, on “Juno,” she candidly describes how attracted she is to her partner.

“I showed my friends, then we high-fived / Sorry if you feel objectified / Can’t help myself, hormones are high / Give me more than just some butterflies,” she sings. 

While Carpenter’s sentiments on “Juno” feel sincere, her delivery leans towards the humorous, a trait that permeates the album. This demonstrates how she does not take herself, nor her songs, too seriously and encourages her audience to do the same. 

It’s her unbridled self-expression that makes “Juno” my favorite track on the album. It’s confident, it’s upbeat and its ear-candy melody has made it my most played song this week. 

This sense of humor shines on “Slim Pickins,” where Carpenter describes how, because the “good ones are deceased or taken,” she’s only able to find mediocre men. 

“Jesus, what’s a girl to do? / This boy doesn’t even know the difference between ‘there,’ ‘their,’ and ‘they are,’ / Yet he’s naked in my room,” she sings. 

“Slim Pickins” is not only a master class in humor, but a great example of the album’s variety in sound. This track, along with “Coincidence,” leans pop-country, while others, like “Juno” and “Good Graces,” lean towards pure pop. 

While the upbeat songs on “Short n’ Sweet” are certainly album highlights, they don’t outshine the project’s gentler moments. “Lie to Girls,” a slower, more vulnerable track which showcases Carpenter’s ability to let her guard down. 

“You don’t have to lie to girls / If they like you, they’ll just lie to themselves / Don’t I know it better than anyone else? / Girls will cry and girls will lie and / Girls will do it ‘til they die for you,” she sings. 

The variety of sound, yet impressive cohesion between tracks, as well as the individual success of each track on the album, makes “Short n’ Sweet” incredibly well-rounded. On past projects, I’ve found Carpenter’s lack of originality in lyricism and forgettable instrumentals to be off-putting, but on “Short n’ Sweet” she has conquered both lyrics and music, making for an album that hits every mark. 

Carpenter’s lyrical fearlessness and freedom embraces sexuality in ways that female artists are often steered away from. Her combination of witty, seductive songs and vulnerable ballads encourages her listeners to embrace their own desires and sensibilities, resulting in a project that is captivating and refreshing.  

@marisarosaaa

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