Humorous And Sensitive: Sabrina Carpenter – ‘Short n’Sweet’ Review

Words: Rosie Russell

Sabrina Carpenter is leaving quite the impression, riding the waves of her current success that is truly showing no signs of slowing down with the release of her new album ‘Short n’Sweet’. 

This album is for the girls whose exes moved on alarmingly fast, for the girls who’s situationship is causing her more stress than current Ticketmaster queues and for girls who just want some love (and loving). With already certified bops such as ‘Please Please Please’ and the forever catchy ‘Espresso,’ this album encapsulates her as a pop princess with more hits such as ‘Coincidence’ and ‘Slim Pickins’ adding slices of country, it truly is an album you can’t get enough of, I genuinely laughed out loud at the lyrics ‘Jesus what’s a girl to do, this boy doesn’t even know the difference between ‘there’ ‘their’ and ‘they are’ because, let’s be honest girls, we have all fallen for someone a wee bit like that. 

This album also mixes comedy and sensuality, with some fans comparing it to an ‘ovulation album’. It’s full of innuendos and wordplay, with ‘Espresso’s’ take of ‘Mountain Dew’ / ‘Mount and do it’ And while she can be wickedly sharp when skewering herself and others, she’s seldom just casually funny. Carpenter sounds totally at ease with both sex and jokes, especially with how often the two go together. You certainly see that in the mock-horror video for the opening track, ‘Taste,’ featuring Gen Z’s scream queen Jenna Ortega.

But as funny and sexy as this album is, it’s also an accumulation of the thoughts of a girl in her twenties, falling in and out of love, vocalising the thoughts so many of us have, like the future karaoke classic ‘Lie to Girls,’ with Carpenter lamenting over acoustic guitar, ‘You don’t have to lie to girls/If they like you, they’ll just lie to themselves.’ She mourns the romantic self-delusions of her mother, her friends, and even “the girl outside the strip club getting her tarot cards read”. It’s a song for the girls who want to be loved and a lovely take on feelings we all have with longing. 

‘Please Please Please’, if you do nothing else today grab a glass of your favourite drink, grab your girlfriends and give this album a listen to.