Sabrina Carpenter has done it once again. I have never been as obsessed with an album as I am with her latest release, Short n’ Sweet, which took over the last bits of summer. Short n’ Sweet is sassy, feminine, sensual, vulnerable, bold, shameless, authentic, and perfect. No notes.
1. “Taste”
“Taste” is one of the most iconic songs on Short n’ Sweet. The opening line is “Oh I leave quite an impression” – and that she does. It is rumored that “Taste” revolves around Carpenter’s brief love triangle with Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello. Carpenter asked Jenna Ortega to star in the official music video that pays homage to Death Becomes Her (featuring the icon herself – Meryl Streep). There is pleasure and satisfaction in haunting the next relationship of someone you loved; Carpenter is one of the few brave enough to say it.
2. “Please, Please, Please”
My sister and I were obsessed with “Please, Please, Please” when the hit first came out this year. We could belt it out in the car and get down with the country accent on the chorus. My best friend and I lost our minds when the music video first came out and we weren’t the only ones. TikTok went wild over the confirmation of Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter’s official relationship. Even though this song has been streamed 769 million times on Spotify, “Please, Please, Please” still hits no matter what. Dating is a risk. Choosing to date someone and putting yourself out and vulnerable like that is damn near impossible. Yet, we take the risk of getting our heart broken and facing embarrassment anyway. It’s a risk that we all (especially Carpenter) are willing to take.
3. “Good Graces”
“Good Graces” is one of the brightest and poppiest songs on Short n’ Sweet and you can’t help but move to the beat. Carpenter emits her baddest b***h energy with the lyric, “You should stay in my good graces / Or I’ll switch it up like that so fast.” Carpenter is beautifully assertive in her no-nonsense way of thinking with men. They are lucky to have her. Not the other way around.
4. “Sharpest Tool”
“We never talk about it.” Communication is key, right? It’s not always that easy. When things are over, the moment of clarity hits. There are missed cues, realizing what everything meant, and reeling from the bubble eventually being burst. The longer this goes, it gets harder and harder to understand. The second-guessing and overthinking takes over the minute the relationship heads in a different direction. Carpenter reflects on the loaded silences, the constant questioning, manipulation, and the clues that they were just casual.
5. “Coincidence”
Has there been another woman? It’s all a coincidence how that works out. Carpenter describes the influence and lurking presence that her ex’s ex holds over them in an unexpected love triangle. She additionally describes the nuances and plagues of modern dating in our society today. “Coincidence” had internet sleuths digging into the possible timeline of Carpenter being one of two women in a relationship with one man. The sleuths connected the dots to Camilla Cabello, Shawn Mendes, and Carpenter’s rumored love triangle once again.
6. “Bed Chem”
“Bed Chem” is one of my personal favorites featured on this album. Bed chem is short for “bedroom chemistry” and we all take that into consideration, right? “Bed Chem” is catchy and promiscuous in all the best ways. Carpenter allows her audience into her lusty bedroom fantasies. We have all been there. We all (at least once) have looked at someone once and let the fantasies run wild. Barry Keoghan is featured a few times on this album, particularly in the “Please Please Please” music video. “Bed Chem” takes listeners on a lusty romantic journey from beginning to end and Carpenter represents all the girls throughout the album – particularly in this track.
7. “Espresso”
“Espresso” went wild on TikTok in the early parts of the summer, and while it has been slightly overplayed, I enjoy it every time. I love the shameless, confident cockiness that Carpenter exudes through the lyrics, owning her own hotness. She knows the power she holds, especially in regards to men. Carpenter wrote “Espresso” in hopes of reaching everyone, even people who don’t typically listen to her. She told Capital UK, “‘they can just tune into a single song and kind of leave with a better idea of my sense of humor.’” “Espresso” allowed Carpenter the opportunity to flex her creative muscles with her clever euphemisms and innuendos.
8. “Dumb & Poetic”
“Dumb & Poetic” is not one of my favorites on Short n’ Sweet, but I do think that it is undoubtedly relatable. “Dumb & Poetic” is about uncovering and deconstructing your partners’ carefully crafted persona that doesn’t align with their true nature. Carpenter uses “Dumb & Poetic” as a cautionary tale to everyone who is involved with someone whose words do not match their actions. Consider yourself warned.
9. “Slim Pickins”
I know I’m not the only one who was reminded of Dolly Parton on “Slim Pickins.” “Slim Pickins,” along with a few other songs on Short n’ Sweet, best exemplifies the range that Carpenter can achieve. It’s slower with a country twist that no one was expecting from Carpenter. Dating nowadays is exactly how Carpenter describes it: “the good ones are deceased or taken” and we are left with the men on dating apps or who are only desperate for a hookup, not a real conversation.
10. “Juno”
I think “Juno” can speak for all of us. Carpenter is the most “unhinged” with “Juno”. She replicates all of the giddy and hormonal feelings we all get towards someone when we first start getting to know them. The fantasies, wishes, dreams, wants, needs, and desires are all cast through rose-colored glasses. They all run crazy when we explore the fantasies of the best side of someone. The desire to be in someone’s fantasy and have your dreams come true is addicting and the withdrawals are devastating.
11. “Lie To Girls”
“Lie To Girls” is home to one of the most heart-wrenchingly real lines, “You don’t have to lie to girls / If they like you, they’ll just lie to themselves.” I have always lied to myself about every single guy I have ever liked. I do the heavy lifting for them. It’s even harder when you have an optimistic and hopeless romantic tint on every conversation and memory revolving around someone. It’s hard to recognize the ugly reality when you are so deep into your hopeful fantasies.“Lie To Girls” is one of my favorite songs on Short n’ Sweet because Carpenter talks to girls like me to let us know we are seen.
12. “Don’t Smile”
“Don’t Smile” is one of my top three favorite songs on Short n’ Sweet. Carpenter’s all went into Short n’ Sweet and “Don’t Smile” was the quintessential finale. She takes “Smile because it happened” and spins it on its head. In an interview with Apple Music, Carpenter said, “The seed of the idea came from my friend that was experiencing heartbreak at that time” and “the saying is on every Pinterest board, every sewn pillow that you’ve ever seen, but the opposite.” Carpenter begs her ex to “cry because it’s over” – begging to know that they cared. We’re left on the bittersweet note, “I want you to miss me.” We all will.
I rarely enjoy the entire tracklist of albums, but there was no aspect of Short n’ Sweet that I did not enjoy. I think that this album is one of the most creative, cunning, clever, and stunning collections of songs that Sabrina Carpenter has created so far. “Don’t Smile,” “Bed Chem,” and “Lie To Girls” are utter perfection. Carpenter has just begun to make as significant of a mark in pop culture as her potential holds. I am thrilled to see where she goes from here.