Album review: Sabrina Carpenter proves the best things come in small packages with ‘Short n’ Sweet’

Although not all music lovers are connoisseurs of pocket-sized pop star Sabrina Carpenter’s previous music, there is no doubt singles “Espresso” and “Please, Please, Please” have blasted through their stereo on more than one occasion over the past several months.

Now, she’s done it once again. Carpenter’s latest album, “Short n’ Sweet,” which features the two record-breaking singles along with 10 more pop bops, is filled with her iconic, unserious and often raunchy lyricism, which has already left quite an impression since its release Friday.

The pop star, who has been repeatedly compared to a Polly Pocket for her small stature and doll-like features, opted to lean into the lore in just the first lyric of her sixth studio album.

In the cheeky lyric from the album’s lead off-track “Taste,” Carpenter sings, “Oh, I leave quite an impression, five feet to be exact,” the first in a string of unserious phrases that have been stopping listeners in their tracks since they first pressed play Friday.

It’s safe to say that Carpenter is once again proving the best things do in fact come in small packages, although her lyrics suggest she may disagree with such a sentiment in her own personal life — take “missing all the things he’s missing, God knows he isn’t living large” from “Slim Pickins.” You’ll just have to listen for yourself.

“Juno” — the album’s 10th track — may be one of Carpenter’s most innuendo-filled songs to date. If you are familiar with the 2007 comedy film “Juno,” a coming-of-age story that follows a pregnant teenager, even the title of the track leaves little to the imagination.

The chorus, “I know you want my touch for life. If you love me right, then who knows? I might let you make me Juno,” had my jaw on the floor the first time I heard it. If there’s one thing about Carpenter, she doesn’t believe in subtle lyricism.

For those unsure of the song’s meaning or unfamiliar with its namesake, the following lyric, “One of me is cute, but two though?” surely answers any lingering questions.

While it’s true that “Short n’ Sweet” is chock-full of hilarious one-liners — my personal favorite being the clever wordplay in “Bed Chem,” in which she sings, “Come right on me, I mean camaraderie” — Carpenter herself is not a one-note writer or performer, and there are plenty more serious songs gracing the record to show for it.

“Sharpest Tool,” “Dumb and Poetic,” “Lie to Girls” and “Don’t Smile” offer an inside look into Carpenter’s experience with toxic relationships.

The chorus of “Sharpest Tool” flows seamlessly, weaving words together to develop an upbeat sound juxtaposed with heart-wrenching honesty: “We were goin’ right, then you took a left, left me with a lot of shit to second guess. Guess I’ll waste another year on wonderin’ if, if that was casual then I’m an idiot.”

The bridge of “Lie to Girls” is one of the most heartbreaking on the album, as Carpenter exclaims, “Girls will lie and girls will cry and girls will do it ‘til they die for you,” something unfortunately all too familiar for many female listeners.

An album release — especially from a young woman in the pop sphere — does not come without an analysis of the performer’s personal life and relationships.

“Taste,” which features a wildly hilarious music video starring actress Jenna Ortega, hints at Carpenter’s experience with a man incapable of staying away from his ex, who will have to “taste” Carpenter every time she kisses him.

Many fans have connected this to the time Carpenter spent dating singer Shawn Mendes at the beginning of 2023; the fling ultimately didn’t last long, as he was seen coupling up with ex-girlfriend Camila Cabello at Coachella just a few months later.

Mendes and Cabello quickly “broke up again,” which is referenced by Carpenter in “Coincidence” following the playful lyric, “Your car drove itself from LA to her thighs. Palm Springs looks nice but who’s by your side?”

Carpenter is not known to shy away from being overtly self-aware. In “Taste,” she comes out and sings, “I know I’ve been known to share,” which many fans have speculated is a humorous callback to her extremely public love triangle with Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo back in 2021.

Carpenter even went so far as to include her alleged current boyfriend, Irish actor Barry Keoghan, in the “Please, Please, Please” music video — released June 6 — as she jokingly threatened him not to embarrass her through the lyrics and video.

In a day and age when many celebrities shy away from dramatic press, Carpenter brings a refreshing, casually unserious energy that pop culture did not realize it was missing until she entered the scene.

“Please, Please, Please” is not the only reference to Keoghan on the album, as she sings “Who’s the cute boy with the white jacket and the thick accent?” in the R&B-inspired track “Bed Chem,” which is hilariously coined as one of many “ovulation songs” on “Short n’ Sweet” by Carpenter fans online.

There are also hints of inspiration from other pop icons on the album, as many fans have compared “Good Graces” to Ariana Grande’s “Positions” era and “Coincidence” to Harry Styles’ “Canyon Moon.”

Though many of the songs are pure pop with hints of R&B, Carpenter also plays with some country sounds, most notably in the amusing and wildly relatable “Slim Pickins,” in which she emphasizes how hard it is to find a good guy because they are all “deceased or taken,” set to a banjo-heavy, Dolly Parton-esque sound.

Overall, “Short n’ Sweet” has all the necessary ingredients for album of the year: humor, impressive vocals, incredible lyricism, varying sounds and, most importantly, it is teeming with notes of Carpenter’s extremely lovable and hilarious personality.

Rating: 5/5