Since its release on August 23rd, Short n’ Sweet has become Sabrina Carpenter’s first No.1 album, as declared by Billboard. All tracks landed somewhere within the top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Carpenter became the first female artist in history to simultaneously hold the entire top 3 on the UK singles chart. Short n’ Sweet is, to its core, a bop and click album with some immediate favourites and zero downfalls. Above all, this album proves one thing for sure – Sabrina is a writer, no doubt to be seen.
Much to the delight of her fans, Carpenter continued the tradition of ‘the target trolley shot’ with Short n’ Sweet (left, posted via Instagram by @myluvsabrinaa), but this one is slightly different. For the first time the singer looks at her album, not with a sense of shock and amazement as in the other pictures but, with a nonchalant aura of inevitable success. All signs point to an upward trajectory that promises to be anything but short and sweet.
'I leave quite an impression’
The perfect opening lines to an album. A promise of confidence in herself, her music and the hold both have over us all, as if to say, ‘you’re so not ready for what’s about to happen’. Short n’ Sweet encapsulates the sense of immediacy in its opening, like books that start right in the thick of it, and like those books follows articulate storytelling and strong imagery. Taste brings drama with a hint of youth, with an interesting exploration of perspective, building tension and releasing it brilliantly, stripped down in places with emphasis from harmonies, silence and echo and beautiful pockets to appreciate impressive instrumental musicality. A simple rhythm of modern drumbeats and crisp high hats with raw retro guitar and lyrics that continue to leave behind straightforward logic, delivered with interesting emphasis and condescending tone, convey a fairly brutal concept. The song opens the album with an appreciated casual feel of delightful laughs, claps and adlibs and the arrogant confidence of a girl that calls the shots.
To follow the punch packed by Taste with the make-believe innocence of Please Please Please brings a different context, even beyond the music video, that truly makes it the poster child for the gift that keeps on giving, imbued with the power of knowing your own worth. The vocal has an angelic quality that leaves you asking ‘how can a voice be picture perfect?’. Sprinkled musical-theatre-style humour and adlibs collide brilliantly with production that in places borders on silly sound effects, building on this jokey clueless, dreamy feel. Carpenter uses music here in such a way that opens an exciting and passionate time of creativity, with exaggerated, sassy, character-driven vocal, closing in an almost-classic sequence that feels like the artist is floating upwards leaving us on the floor, think the end of Grease (1978).
The opening of Good Graces is perhaps sultry but definitely intricate and allows the beat to come out of a vacuum to immediate impact. Overflowing with old-school pop vibes reminiscent of the iconic Ariana Grande, the song has the potential to cure any commercial choreographer of creative block – potential we have already seem exercised on TikTok. Pockets of genius lyricism and phrasing are appreciated in various forms, with a continued prowess for adlibs. Her respect and genius use of words includes as a weapon, pain, imagery and romance flowing on an intoxicating, fluid, smooth melody. The final product is extremely dynamic, shining a spotlight on a slight but incredibly significant detail that will hopefully come to be a defining factor in the making of modern music – understanding the effect of taking a moment, going lengths in upholding its aura of easy self-confidence.
Sharpest Tool launches the acoustic side of the album with no fear. Carpenter’s soft control of voice is breathtaking, with a pleasing spotlight on a stunning upper register. We hear this music gradually develop to its peak production much like seeing a piece of fine art painted, taking in incredible structure and wonderfully textured mixing. Consideration for all angles and capabilities of musical representation allow the piece to reach a new level, appreciated in contrast between fluid movement and static to produce a clever, three-dimensional composition. There are layers to the listening experience of Sharpest Tool. It has the flow and underlying passion of locked up feelings finally let go and represents the heated passion as much as the quiet reflection and the echo of residual energy at the end of a relationship.
The inherent theme of gossip in Coincidence brings new meaning to the phrase ‘bitch’n tune’. A folksy song of the clear feeling of ‘jamming’ with friends at a party, with au naturale guitar and an artistic use of echo. Overall, the production is pretty straightforward, achieving an effective simplicity much like a stage of only a spotlight, a stool and a mic which the standout vocal, all twang and head voice, graces with attitude to spare. We are left to linger with the word, giving it a chance to land with impact, or hit with syncopated prominence, and the incognito ‘she’ sets the brain into overdrive, first rushing to identify her, then questioning with light shame why that was the instinct. Instrumental prowess reaches its potential peak here as phantom rhythm conjures in silent moments, demonstrating perfectly the intense connection the artist is able to establish with us through her music. By the end we have a song of stagey sarcasm and scandal conveying the next, and possibly most empowering, position of a break up – over it.
Bed Chem follows a cinematic intro into narrative lyric, with clear imagery and the rhythm and pace of poetry, for some concentrated world building. The song features beautiful vocal showcasing all the nuances a voice can achieve with some expert production layered beautifully. Sabrina Carpenter proves herself an epic wordsmith, reaching master status as she explores the unserious – definitive proof that this period of free creative play was in fact a gold mine and she wasn’t just digging herself a hole. The Ariana Grande feel is back. An epic sound of intoxicating pop, with the purest euphoria of the music world – that part where the words blend together at the top of the singers register, filled with utter excitement, giving in to a sheer impulse to all but explode into song. Bed Chem is an outgoing tune of true personality that lends itself totally to cheeky winks and smiles biting down on twisted tongues.
Espresso officially solidifies a move into the hot girl summer phase following the soft launch of Bed Chem and continuing a coherent thought process throughout the album. Perhaps somewhat inspired by the visuals of the music video, the introduction conjures a real pool party vibe, surrounding you with a sense of faded movement and the vacation energy of Sharpay Evans’ ‘Fabulous’ levelled up. Espresso was our introduction to this playground of modern musicality back in April of this year, perfectly paced, free of complexity and punctuated with rhyme and lines of unexplainable addictive grasp, and it is clear now what was brewing.
Dumb & Poetic brings a new depth to the acoustic side of the album, holding in it the crisp light of pointing a spotlight at shadows. Attributing inarticulate words to mature emotions effortlessly and perfectly conjures the image of self-deprecating youth, of a very specific generation, going through the hard times of growth, difficulty, discomfort, confusion and flirting. The dynamics of the song imply growing passion and frustration, and tension, routed in realism. Layers peel back amongst a syncopated structure with fluid transitions as easter eggs widen eyes, harmony envelops you with tangible emotion and clouds of complexity bring clarity.
Slim Pickin’s builds nicely with a country twang to instruments and vocal, bringing a sweetness and innocence to mature content, the classic draw of the country-girl persona. With a melody instantly impressive, down to the note, and a conversational lyricism and sense of freedom, reminiscent of ABBA, Carpenter calls out all the worlds emotional scapegoats. Delivered with relatable, sarcastic humour and crisp clarity and projection, the song features beautiful vocal control, featuring a lower register and harmonies.
Juno is a definitive highlight of the album, completely individual featuring a strong vibrant singing voice, shining vocal runs and a warm, fun, lovey-dovey feel. The song begins with a certain wistfulness and familiarity bordering on nostalgia before a beat kicks in - beginning, in an undeniably strong build, an expert structure and rhythm, where each line leaves impact and music sings, with occasional old school ambience and hints of The 1975. The choice of such a pop culture reference emphasises the youthful viewpoint running through the whole album as touches of mature content, with innuendo in the inexplicit and incredibly explicit alike, bring a comprehensive feel of quirky coming-of-age movies like its namesake.
Lie To Girls is a simultaneously uplifting, grounding and sinking listening experience, a magnet for tears whether in the light and airy humorous moments or the heavier moments that pull you deeper. The song builds wonderfully an acoustic, heartfelt sound and captivating, grounding imagery of real life. Lie To Girls tells a story of an addictive kind of love. There’s a sense of hindsight accountability, acknowledging shortcomings in approaches to love, and relatability triggers a very real, almost tangible, emotional response to concepts of comradery and shared girlhood, a sentiment clearly driven home well as an instrumental outro sees clear apparitions of phantom lyrics.
Don’t Smile maintains an airy essence from beginning to end. It is a sweet reminder of a childlike sense of play in approach to music, resulting in a freedom and fluidity that just pours out, the articulate, the artistic and the unembellished. A clever, thought-provoking foundation of a backwards sentiment, layered with beautiful melody, rhythm and emphasis, with an atmospheric heavy feel and solemn but playful composition, ending in subtle but satisfying closure, gives an overall feel of singing tears.
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