The summer of 2024 stands unparalleled in the annals of pop-girl supremacy, and Sabrina Carpenter stands as a cornerstone of this unprecedented era. With "Espresso" and "Please Please Please" blazing a trail, she has etched her name firmly among the elite contenders for the Song of the Summer crown. Yet, it's her full-length masterpiece, Short n’ Sweet, that catapults her into a realm of absolute grandeur, showcasing her uncanny ability to transform heartache into delectably irreverent pop masterpieces.
Sabrina's attitude isn't merely taking a casual sabbatical; it's as if her care-free vibes have descended into a blissful coma. Her tunes pulse with a mischievous blend of taboo-treading frankness, tongue-in-cheek humor, and an edge that can cut deep, yet she effortlessly skewers herself amidst the chaos, embracing the chaos with a wink and a nod. As she quips, "I possess the power to elevate even the messiest of spectacles into something eternally alluring."
This 25-year-old, once a Disney darling, has diligently honed her craft over the years, with Short n’ Sweet marking her sixth studio album and a triumphant follow-up to her 2022 breakthrough, Emails I Can’t Send. She joins the ranks of summer's other formidable queens – Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Tinashe – as a seasoned artist reclaiming the spirit of a fresh-faced ingenue, driven solely by her unbridled ambition. (Indeed, she's among the rare few who can boast of being overshadowed in a chart-topper only to subsequently score one of her own.)
Aware of the world's gaze upon her, Sabrina ensures that Short n’ Sweet serves as a definitive seal of her arrival as a bona fide pop superstar, leaving an indelible mark on the music landscape.
"Espresso" and "Please Please Please" shimmer as mere beacons amidst a stellar constellation, yet they pale in comparison to the forthcoming karaoke sensation, "Lie to Girls." Carpenter's voice, hauntingly entwined with an acoustic guitar's melancholic strains, croons a poignant tale: "You don't have to lie to girls/If they take a shine to you, they'll embroider their own webs of deceit." She elegiacally laments the romantic illusions spun by her mother, her circle of friends, and even "the enigmatic tarot-seeker outside the strip club's neon glow," a witty jab at the folly of divination, rivaling Joni Mitchell's quixotic Hejira escapade where dollars frittered away like smoke signals on Bleecker Street.
As she serenades, her lyrics paint a vivid portrait of human nature's penchant for denial: "We cherish the icy truth yet swear blind to its veracity/We mistake the flutter of love's wings for the throes of a heart attack, deluded till the very end." Each note resonates with a profound empathy, inviting listeners into a world where dreams and reality intertwine, blurring the lines between truth and wishful thinking.
Sabrina weaves rhymed couplets with a mischievous finesse, akin to a mischievous offspring of literary giants Dorothy Parker and Alexander Pope, yet her soulful sensibilities remain distinctly her own. Her heart harbors an unwavering fascination with "Bed Chem," lamenting its inability to unravel the complex tangles woven by men's flaws, ranging from betrayal's subtle webs to grammatical blunders that shine a neon spotlight on ignorance. (A particular gent's confusion between "there," "their," and "they're" stands as a stark warning sign, a scarlet flag waving in the wind of her discontent.)
Sabrina's plight of being entangled with the straight-laced, she laments, "for the worthy ones brand their exes as lost causes/And fate, it seems, overlooked my queer awakening's dawn." Her musical offering, Short n' Sweet, is a testament to laser-sharp focus, a dazzling array of 12 tracks compressed into a captivating 36-minute journey, devoid of distractions – no collaborators, no guest appearances, simply perfection in every step.
Each meticulously crafted tune is a collaboration with Amy Allen, whose own summer anthem "Girl with a Problem" resonated deeply. The production prowess of John Ryan, Ian Kirkpatrick, and Justin Bunetta adds depth, while Jack Antonoff's magic touches four standout tracks, including the soul-stirring "Please Please Please" and the emotionally charged "Lie to Girls."
The unexpected infusion of banjo and acoustic guitar lends a playful percussive snap, heard in the intricate finger-picking patterns that grace "Slim Pickins" and "Sharpest Tool," turning up the dial on the country-meets-synth-pop fusion. This blend eerily echoes Madonna's disco-cowgirl era in Music, where "Don't Tell Me" transformed into a modern pop landmark, influencing the soundscape of our times. Sabrina's Short n' Sweet is a triumphant ode to individuality, laced with wit, heartache, and a stubborn refusal to conform, making it a musical journey worth savoring again and again.
"Taste" serves as a tantalizingly mischievous overture, where she mischievously addresses her ex's new paramour, whispering, "You'll inevitably savor me in his kisses." Yet, on the opposite shore lies "Coincidence," a tale where the former love interest reenters the fray, as she croons, "Last week, you were devoid of doubts; this week, her tongue finds its place within your mouth." In the synthetic embrace of "Bed Chem," an Eighties-infused ode to unabashed desire, Sabrina ascends to Shakespearean heights, effortlessly weaving "Come right on me, I mean camaraderie" with the whimsical "Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?" amidst a celebration of wanton passions.
She dissects hearts and minds with razor-sharp wit, but her keenest aim is reserved for the literary charlatan in "Dumb & Poetic," sneering, "Pretend to be soft-spoken and refined, jacking off to Leonard Cohen's lyrics in solitude." This satirical nod to the late Montreal bard would undoubtedly be embraced by him, who himself delighted in skewering male vanity, much like these modern songstresses. Cohen, too, would appreciate Sabrina's transformation of romantic tribulations into razor-sharp barbs like "Save your breath for your meditation mat" and "My vow: mushrooms won't revolutionize your life." Moreover, their shared penchant for audacious rhymes might have inspired Cohen to ponder extending "Hallelujah" with playful lines like "dream-come-true ya" and "Mountain Dew ya."
"Don't Smile" stands as the sole misstep, its message—'Don't smile at the past, weep for its ending'—undermined by a lackluster execution. Carpenter thrives in melodies of ire, her voice finding greater joy in tales of resentment than in melancholic defeat. Recently, she shared the stage with one of her idols, Kacey Musgraves, in a duet on Nancy Sinatra's feminist anthem "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," a moment that felt like a seamless transmission of spirit, mirroring the very essence Sabrina strives to embody.
Closing the vinyl edition of Short n' Sweet, Carpenter signs off with "Needless to Say," poking fun at her own "entertainingly impulsive judgments of youth." Yet, if such judgments birthed songs of this caliber, no one can fault her discernment. Rather, they stand as testament to a creative force that transcends mere judgment, carving a path illuminated by her unbridled talent.
