Is it ever fair to expect a musician to create an album’s worth of billion-stream-caliber songs? Probably not (unless you’re Michael Jackson), but when pop singer Sabrina Carpenter’s summer singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” dominated the music mainstream, it became hard to expect anything less from her sixth studio album, “Short n’ Sweet.”
Featuring 12 tracks and lasting 32 minutes, it’s clear that the album’s title is not a reference to its duration but rather to the artist’s physicality and romantic personality.
In the very first lines of the album’s opening track, “Taste,” Carpenter boasts, “Oh, I leave quite an impression, five feet to be exact.” Carpenter makes these self-referential statements a key piece of her writing throughout the album, and when combined with the ever-present themes of love and heartbreak, it can get repetitive for listeners not accustomed to the romantic nature of pop music or those who simply have gotten over their last breakup already.
Following “Taste” – a song I actually found to be enjoyable for its strong chorus and clean instrumental – was one of the album’s maiden singles, “Please Please Please.” The track brings us to inspirations of 80’s pop, featuring weeping synths and a key change that really hearkens back to the origins of modern pop. Other songs like “Good Graces” and “Coincidence” offer nice changes of pace without creating a sense of whiplash.
Following “Espresso” – the first single released for the album that now has over one billion streams on Spotify – the interesting lyrics and instrumental moments come fewer and farther between.
“Dumb & Poetic” bemoans a classic tale of an “artsy” man who is really quite insufferable — I found the lyric, “You jack off to lyrics by Leonard Cohen” to be quite amusing. Yet I found the following song, “Slim Pickins,” to be flat-out terrible for its lackluster instrumental and weak lyrics. Not to mention the line, “And since the Lord forgot my gay awakening” sounds like a classic “I wish I was gay, it would be so much easier to date!” complaint. An area where I felt the album really fell short was its lyrical content. The few memorable choruses are on the most popular tracks — “Taste,” “Please Please Please,” “Espresso” and “Bed Chem” — and the good choruses don’t continue much further beyond these songs.
I’ve always valued the memorability and relatability of pop lyrics, but in this album, they tend to feel less anthemic and more algorithmic, like they were written with the sole intent of going viral. The amount of spoken word quips within the album are trying too hard to have their moment on TikTok. A little joke in the middle of the song shouldn’t have to tell me that I should be having a fun time; the musical content should do that.
Despite my displeasure with the lyrics, the instrumental production of the album was well done. Producers Jack Antonoff and Ian Kirkpatrick are no strangers to the pop genre, as their prior experience working with artists such as Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo lends to an understanding of what makes strong pop instrumentals. The drum and guitar tones really contribute to each and every song’s feel in a way that actually offers some differentiation between them.
Overall, I don’t find this album to be particularly outstanding. I’d give it about 5 chart-toppers out of 10. It certainly failed to live up to the unfair expectations set by its singles. There are some bright moments, especially in its early half, but overall there’s not enough diversity of content to maintain interest.
If you are already into pop music, then you will certainly enjoy this album (and there is nothing wrong with that; I will not be the judge of your joy).
However, if you are looking to get into the genre, it may serve as a fine entry for you, as it doesn’t push far beyond the conventions of pop due to its limited lyrical scope and common song structures. But for a new listener, I would rather recommend alternatives to Carpenter — Ariana Grande excels in Carpenter’s style, or if you’re looking for something more indie-pop, then the emotionally enthralling band Japanese Breakfast will satisfy you.
Albums like these don’t push the envelope. They don’t change anything we already know about music. But that’s okay; that’s not the point of an album like this.
Not every project should have to do something entirely new and never-before-seen. Some things aren’t supposed to serve as a cultural shift, but as a cultural affirmation. It tells future generations who we are, and it allows us to celebrate and enjoy ourselves in the truth of what is contemporary. “Short n’ Sweet” lets us celebrate a woman who turned her self-confidence and her demoralizing heartbreaks into a set of catchy songs. Who could disagree with that?
