Throughout music history, love has been likened to every drug. But in this summer’s seductive smash, Sabrina Carpenter claims to be so charming that it can send your lover to the brink of insomnia. “Is it so sweet? I bet it is,” she sings in her honeyed voice on “Espresso,” her eyelash extensions swinging innocently. “Tell me you can’t sleep, baby, I know. That’s my espresso.” Her charm is so hot it melts grammar into something deliciously goofy and genius. Over a crisp nu-disco beat, Carpenter belts out gibberish, syntax-busting lyrics like, “I walked home, my dreams came true for you”… “I got you a Mountain Dew,” with the sassy “hey, hey” attitude of a Gen-Z Betty Boop.
“Espresso” and its even more successful follow-up single, “Please Please Please,” catapulted the 25-year-old Carpenter into a new line of pop stardom. It’s been a long journey: She spent her teenage years as an actress on a spinoff of the sitcom “Boy Meets World,” and released her first four albums under the Disney umbrella. Like so many before her, she eventually ditched her mouse ears and released her first “grown-up woman” album, “Emails I Can’t Send,” in 2022.
Which brings us to Carpenter’s sixth album, Short and Sweet. It’s a laughable title for a 36-minute album by a singer who’s just under five feet tall. In a pop world that’s become self-absorbed and tiresomely obsessed with authenticity lately, Short and Sweet is a refreshing slice of escapism. Rest assured, Carpenter doesn’t carelessly skip over any vulnerable moments. Emails touches on some personal experiences: a breakup, a parent’s infidelity, the breakdown of a love triangle over a certain “driver’s license.” But on Short and Sweet, Carpenter is here to have a good time. As she says on the opening track, “Taste,” “It’s not like I care if I sing about it.”
Throughout the 12 tracks, Carpenter plays in familiar pop guises: sparkly pop-rock (the quasi-sappy “Taste”), Dolly-influenced twang (“Slim Pickins,” “Sharpest Tool”), and at least one nostalgic R&B song (“Good Graces”). Carpenter mostly manages to cross over between these styles, thanks in part to the big voice she commands so effortlessly, though the sing-along vibe of “Coincidence” veers a little too close to folk-pop campfire. It also helps that she’s backed by a who’s who of pop songwriters and producers. “Short n’ Sweet” was primarily co-written by Amy Allen, who has been behind many of this year’s hits, including four No. 1s. Other familiar names include Julia Michaels, One Direction mastermind John Ryan, and Ian Kirkpatrick. Jack Antonoff is here, too. His glittering synthesizers are unmistakable standouts on the dazzling “Please Please Please.”
