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Since blowing the music world wide open with her 2024 breakout record ‘Short n’ Sweet’, it has become increasingly incumbent upon Sabrina Carpenter to make good on her promises. The aforementioned release saw her dabbling in some incredibly sharp, catchy pop song-writing that presented a promising direction. It saw a sardonic lyrical style forged out of unfortunate experiences with the men in her life. It also saw her fully break away from the young-Disney-actress label, with the introduction of a smuttier inclination. A decent offering of heartbreak and lust in equal measure, it was always going to be the follow-up that actually tested Sabrina’s staying power. It’s one thing to dominate the charts with a lucky couple of bangers, referring to the TikTok viral summer anthems ‘Please Please Please’ and ‘Espresso’, enjoyable tracks in their own right. It’s a whole other beast entirely to replicate that success on the sophomore helping, whilst somehow managing to up the ante on the production and songwriting side of things.
You could be forgiven for going into this album wary of a slump. Controversy plagued this project’s release, due to a particularly kinky album cover depicting Sabrina in a position some have called “degrading” and “misogynistic”. You can see above to know what I’m talking about. These criticisms, however fair they may be in a vacuum, kind of miss the forest for the trees in regards to the rollout of this album. The lead single for this release was ‘Manchild’, a peppy synth-pop number lamenting useless, bottom-rung men who can barely keep their phones charged. It was clearly intended to be the smash hit, as it features one of the most lush choruses on the whole project, and feeds into a continuing cultural desire for bouncy 80’s throwbacks. The first instance of subversion occurs here. To look at this cover, and then listen to the record’s lead single, and still miss the joke is to simply be irony deficient.
‘Tears’ subverts expectations yet again. Initially with the title, then again with the lyrical content, and yet again with the fact it’s obviously intended to be sarcasm. To take her proclamations of “tears run down my thighs” in response to her man doing the bare minimum seriously, is to become the actual butt of the joke. The album doesn’t really tread this song’s musical direction again, which is a bit of a shame, as it’s the funkiest cut of the bunch. The closest we get to it is the deep cut ‘Never Getting Laid’, which is not so much a virgin anthem, but a hexing on the man who’s broken her heart. Another subtle subversion, as you may read the title and automatically assume it’s going to be a run-of-the-mill critique of inceldom. Thankfully, Sabrina’s a bit more exciting than that.
Case in point, the song ‘Go Go Juice’. A hilarious ode to liquid courage, and perhaps the most Dolly Parton-coded song on the whole record. Is it ridiculously tongue-in-cheek? Sure. Does it matter when the song romps as hard as it does? Absolutely bloody not. I’m sorry, but you can’t listen to the fiddle solo on the back end of this track and not at least be a little bit moved to shimmy. It takes a somewhat depressing mental state and empowers it with the most infectious chorus melody of the year so far. I sometimes think I’m going insane reading/watching reactions to this record, and then I put a song like this on and I go straight back to knowing I’m correct about it.
The closing ‘Goodbye’ puts a glorious stamp on the package. An ABBA-influenced piece of Euro-pop complete with an orchestra of brass and strings, it’s a glamorous way to put an end to things both in this album and in her own life. It feels final enough to be a potential signal for something fresh coming down the pipe. Sabrina has improved in just about every aspect from her last release, and this song here is proof that she can push things as far as she wants. She knows the winning formula, and it has worked for her twice now. The third and possibly final challenge is putting out a successful album that sits independent of these last two. Whether that be something more emotionally charged, or whether it be a radical departure from anything she’s done up to this point. The world is officially Sabrina’s oyster, it’s up to her to start truly exploring.
Dan Will Review 