It has been quite the year for former Disney Channel star Sabrina Carpenter. In late 2023 and early 2024, Carpenter opened for sections of Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” in Latin America and Asia. This earned her a career boost that would push her popularity to heights beyond the expectations of the music executives representing her. Since Carpenter’s rapid popularity growth, three of her singles have reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Please Please Please” snatching the No. 1 spot back in June. Most impressively, “Short n’ Sweet” earned over 350,000 sales units in its first week of release, nearly 20 times the individual sales of her 2022 album “emails i can’t send.” “Short n’ Sweet” is an all-around victory for Carpenter – and the compressed and consistent quality of the album makes it deserving of every unit sold.
Carpenter’s aptly titled sixth studio album is a celebration of all the characteristics of the bubblegum pop anthems that the singer has released in the past. Clocking in at just 36 minutes, “Short n’ Sweet” is exactly as the title sounds – a fast-paced, personality-infused record that is a perfect entryway into the sassy, lascivious and overdramatic world of Sabrina Carpenter. For those who are seeking to travel along the route of so-called “pop perfection” songs like her hit single “Espresso,” look no further than tracks like “Good Graces,” “Taste” and “Juno.” For those who want short, catchy and blissful contemporary pop, all three tracks will scratch the itch equally well.
“Juno” is a standout from the three, a track cleverly titled after the 2007 film of the same name where Carpenter remarks on her sexual urges by saying she might let her partner make her “Juno,” referring to the pregnancy of the title’s reference character.
“Taste” and “Please Please Please” also usher in a spirited one-two punch to begin the album, highlighting the series of tumultuous emotions and moods Carpenter will showcase throughout the rest of the record.
For lovers of sad songs who long for tears welling up in their eyes while they listen to Carpenter’s soft-spoken vocals, there are plenty of “sad girl anthems” to go around in this project. Carpenter is not afraid to pull her heart out of her chest and show it to the world on songs like “Slim Pickins,” “Dumb & Poetic” and “Coincidence,” discussing themes of passionate longing for past partners (and sometimes outright hatred, too). Surprisingly, the album is also full of mournful, ballad-adjacent anthems about the emotions of short romances, something that was not reflected in the album’s pre-release singles.
Carpenter ties the work’s different themes together with songs like “Sharpest Tool” and “Lie to Girls,” while also experimenting with new sounds and vocal styles in songs like “Bed Chem,” which taps into Carpenter’s experimentation with R&B sounds and lyricism.
The biggest problem with the record comes from a rather ironic reason; its length. Despite its ability to make an impression in its 36-minute runtime, listeners are left musically hungry after finishing the 12 tracks. Just as the album is getting started and finding its groove, less than ten minutes of listening time remain, and the desire for more is never fully satisfied.
Despite its criminally short runtime, Carpenter’s sixth album is a lovely addition to her catalogue that’s been nearly a decade in the making. Song diversity, thematic creativity and challenging topics, along with that irresistible Sabrina Carpenter musical touch, makes for a late-summer album that will cement itself as a pop classic for years to come.
