Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n Sweet album has been one of the most highly anticipated albums of the summer. While brat summer comes to a close, I propose “Short n Sweet September”. It’s the perfect album to return to school with. Seeing old partners on campus again, finding out that situationships moved on, finding out that the relationship might not have been entirely casual on your end… this album is perfect for figuring out these feelings.
“Taste” is the first song off of the album. It opens with a dreamy melody and a funky backbeat. The whole song is about leaving a lasting impression on a relationship that changes the way two people are together. I hate that I love this song. It’s catty and almost mean, but there’s something about the way it’s strung together with glissandos, high treble, and low bass. The instrumentals are full of bass whereas the vocals are treble centric. I think this is the perfect song to start this album off with.
“Taste” is followed by “Please Please Please,” a song that has seen success amongst both brat summer and feminine vocal forward summer. Carpenter’s voice reaches high highs and low lows with her trademark clean-toned heavy vibrato to create a country twang. My favorite aspect of this song is the outro with, “If you wanna go and be stupid/ don’t do it in front of me,” as it demonstrates the tongue-in-cheek nature of the subject matter of it being a warning, but it also shows that she knows better and is choosing to ignore her instincts. Synth is the most prevalent sound in this song, but it pairs well with the bubblegum-pop sound of the drums, acoustic guitar, and simple bass line. This song is vocally forward as is most of this album, but this song in particular is impressive because it shows Carpenter’s range. Sonically, this song is very obviously produced by Jack Antonoff, who has been responsible for several hit albums in previous years, including one of my favorites “Being Funny in a Foreign Language,”by the 1975.
Track 3, “Good Graces”, sounds like it draws from 90s and early 2000s hip hop. A danceable 808 drum track and a general emphasis on bass lines in this song don’t entirely feel like a genre shift, but a definitive change in pace to the breathy-ballads Short ’n’ Sweet album’s tracklist. It sounds somewhat like an Ariana Grande track with a Britney Spears’ air to it. This song is outwardly a warning expressing that Carpenter will “give you/ some advice,” not to play with her feelings by outwardly threatening to publicly embarrass her partner if he does so.
In track 4, “Sharpest Tool”, Carpenter blames miscommunication for the reason a relationship ended poorly. This song has acoustic arpeggios, giving the song a more stripped-back, vulnerable feel in the first couple of verses. Carpenter builds tension as her voice snowballs, getting progressively more confident, culminating in a repetitive “we never talk about it,” where it sounds like a resolve that she just has to give up on said previous relationship. Thudding bass gives the song momentum whereas the fast arpeggios may eventually sound too repetitive. This song is angry, but disguised as a sweet love song. One of my favorite lyrics is “we never talk about how you/ found God at your ex’s house,” which stands out from the rest of the album because the dig at the ex partner is not explicitly communicated, but instead an implied dig.
“Coincidence” is one of my favorite songs on the album. It carries the tongue-in-cheek vibe to another level. Where “Sharpest Tool” focuses more on self-reflection, this song is where Carpenter connects the dots of why her past relationship soured. The layered vocals and simple melody make this track feel bright and lively. The ad-libbed transitional bridge of “na”s and an impromptu friendly-sounding choir, in the song is such a fun approach to this typical style of breakup song.
“Bed Chem” revisits the funky-synth sound of the 90s, and the return to breathy-falsetto and clean tones is always a welcome venture. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the next single to come off of the album. It’s dreamy feeling is reminiscent of the 70s via electric guitar and sharp bass line, the 90s through the RnB rhythm, and even draws from the 2000s falsetto. It has quickly altered my end-of-year stats for my streaming services. It’s risqué, funky, and yet saccharine.
I previously discussed “Espresso” in an entire article dedicated to its release as a single. As for its place on the album, it’s the perfect song to follow “Bed Chem” and “Coincidence”.
I get emotional whiplash from “Dumb & Poetic,” it completely derails the fun pop sound established by the three songs preceding it. Consisting heavily of acoustics, it’s shorter than most of the songs on the album and focuses on irony in a relationship where Carpenter felt manipulated by someone who from the outside seemed perfect. She manages to relate to her audience through examples of red flags that could look green at first.She points out all of the things that seemed great from the outside that were threats in practice. “You’re so sad there’s no communication/… Save all your breath for your floor mediation,” it’s almost like a social commentary on the thin line between self-care and selfishness.
“Slim Pickins” picks up the acoustic torch passed from “Dumb & Poetic,” but with a country twist reminiscent of Dolly Parton.. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the old country-folk revival happening recently in pop, and this song proves my theory that it’s progressively getting better. With artists like Noah Kahan, Hozier, and Zach Bryan having a huge surge in popularity, hearing a girl’s take on this style when she’s typically associated with pop is refreshing. Carpenter’s falsetto over a banjo was something I didn’t realize I was missing. One of my favorite instruments, pedal steel, being featured on a pop album is one of my favorite things in recent music history.
While most of this album has had fairly positive reviews, I can’t give “Juno” the same treatment. While the instrumentals and production are done expertly, I cannot ignore the lyrics. It feels like I walked in on something. That being said, “Bed Chem” was arguably more vulgar and I didn’t have the same reaction. I think the directness and the imagery in this song are a little too much for my taste. Her vocals are great, but it feels like a scrapped old Katy Perry song. Usually, I can separate lyrics and instrumentals to be able to enjoy a song when it crosses into risqué territory, but this one is blatant and difficult to ignore, which is unfortunate because the instrumentals are so fun.
“Lie to Girls” is a return to normalcy. I loved the usage of momentum-building guitar and the rhythm from the bass line, and the lack thereof in the outro. Much of the song hinges on the echo-y production of the verses as opposed to spoken word asides. This song is a confession in which Carpenter realizes she has allowed herself to be treated poorly and been passive to bad partners, and therefore lowering her standards. The outro of the song repeating “Girls will cry and girls will lie and/ girls will do it til they die for you,” progressively amplifies as the instrumentals fade out into an echo, making the lyrics sound that much more impactful.
“Don’t Smile” wraps the whole album up with 90s hip-hop instrumentals reminiscent of OutKast, this track functions as a farewell to Carpenter’s audience, as well as to the artist’s former self. . This song is an acknowledgment of growing up and being forced to move on from difficult situations. “Don’t smile because it happened, cry because it’s over,” is a play on the Dr. Seuss quote “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” This song is about knowing a past partner has moved on when she hasn’t, and going through the motions to get through it. This song feels like it’s trying to ground itself in reality just as much as Carpenter is.
It is hard to pick a favorite song from this album, but the standout tracks are “Bed Chem”, “Don’t Smile”, “Slim Pickins”, and “Coincidence”. While I loved this album more than I expected to, certain aspects of the album fell flat, namely “Juno” as a concept. Jack Antinoff’s production style is similar in a lot of the albums he produces for vastly different artists, but I liked that this album didn’t sound like the last five Taylor Swift albums. It has a unique feel to it despite following formulas that have worked historically. I love the diversity in sound in this album. I just love this album. It’s cheeky, short, and sweet: everything it promised.
