When Sabrina dropped Short n’ Sweet I was sat upright, sipping my morning coffee and expecting to not be able to concentrate on work - the reaction in reality, was slightly stale.
This album is not as good as her last album. There, I said it. If you’ve only learnt of Sabrina this year from ‘That’s that me Espresso’ line on TikTok then you need to listen to Email's I Can’t Send which was her album released in 2022. There’s WAY more catchy songs and lyrically interesting concepts, this album is slightly TikTok sound-esque ready.
Who am I to judge though? This woman will be banking more money than anyone. I just have been such a fan of hers and felt a bit disappointed when I heard this album. That said, there are some really great songs, they are a small cluster of what should have been a bop after bop.
Before anyone screams, Espresso and Please, Please, Please are not on the list that's because I’ve listened to them about a million times - my review of those songs is that I expected the rest of the album to be on that level:
So here is my review of Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’Sweet:
Sharpest Tool
For me, lyrically this is the strongest and one of those songs that ‘spook’ you out as it feels like a snippet of your life. It’s about a simple concept of never talking about why things went wrong, and someone in the relationship being unaware of the feelings. The end of the song fading out is very 80s, synth vibes and gives me a Taylor Swift aesthetic - which makes sense as Jack Antonoff helped write it. Anyway, this compared to some of the other songs is a good winner.
Busy Woman
When this song came out (a week after the release) automatically I knew by the title that I would love it. The way to describe it is ABBA, Japanese House melodies and it’s the song I will be blasting on my commute. However, can we talk for a second about why pop artists are releasing good songs on the deluxe? Ahem, Taylor Swift. It’s an economic crisis!
Taste
I LOVE the first line in this and I got such Scream Queen, Ryan Murphy vibes from the music video. Obviously, there is online speculation that the song is about Camilla Cabello…who knows. There is a rocky vibe in the song, which is sort of random compared to the rest of the album. However, the upbeat, 2000-esque sound definitely makes it a good single.
Juno
Okay, this song grew on me as I listened to it on my walk. The song references the 2007 American film where the teenager had an unplanned pregnancy. Essentially, the song is saying ‘I don’t mind if I get pregnant because this man is so fit?’ Fair, enough Sabrina. It’s quite a fun song and very carefree. The instrumental section is again, quite 80s rock? No one is saying she can’t do pop, country and rock but it sure is A LOT on an album. I feel like I’m in a movie when I listen to this and that I should be riding a bike down the street x
Slim Pickins
This song is super witty and sounds like it was written at 2am, I mean the first line is ‘guess I’ll end this life alone’ - a mood. The sound of this song is Dolly Parton but more gentle and gen z? I don’t think this is a huge hit but her lyrics are certainly relatable.
Coincidence
Um, Canyon Moon by Harry Styles anyone? Again, this song is giving country, One Direction era vibes. I really can’t explain all these genres. My favourite bit is the sassy whispers in the song, it is good and reminds me of her very old songs (Can’t Blame A Girl For Trying.) Again, this could be about Camilla Cabello and Shawn Mendes. I barely remember Shawn dating Sabrina, but then those short situation ships always deserve a whole album's worth.
Lie To Girls
I think this song is unique and again quite simple - basically, Sabrina is telling men to stop lying to girls because if we really like you, we will pretend you are perfect anyway. Ouch. The song picks up in beat half way through and goes slightly r’n’b.’ It’s okay.
Bed Chem
Hey Barry Keoghan (obviously the song is about him.) I wasn’t as obsessed with this song as everyone seems to be- it’s Nonsense but a lot weaker. The chorus is a bit flat (in terms of I wanted someone more upbeat) and she’s a really good vocalist which this song doesn’t really show. I feel like the lyrics are a bit TikTok clip-marketable rather than being anything special.
Good Graces
Nope. What is this song? It's so random. It sounds like an old Ariana Grande song but not…a good one. I read online it sounds like a H&M changing room song, yeah it does. Next…
Dumb & Poetic
Again, I’m not sold on this song. But I’ve never met a guy who's dumb and poetic so maybe I’m not in the right field to market this song.
Don’t Smile
I understand the concept of the song is to reverse, ‘don’t smile because it’s over, cry because it happened.’ But I don’t really get it…
Ionablog xox
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