Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet finds humor in heartbreak

In Tune is The NewsHouse’s weekly album review. Contributors Sarah Dorval and Annie Labarca cover new releases across genres.

Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet marks not only her sixth studio album but also her official rise to “pop princess” status. The album, which debuted in late August, was preceded by hit singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please”—the latter reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the former winning the VMA for Song of the Year. The highly anticipated Short n’ Sweet is a unique yet perfect blend of pop, country and disco. At just 36 minutes long, it truly lives up to its name: short and sweet.

Carpenter opens the album with “Taste,” a sort of taunt to her ex’s new love interest. In the chorus, she sings “(I) Heard you’re back together and if that’s true / You’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissing you.” Carpenter acknowledges that her ex has moved on but still finds satisfaction in knowing he’ll always be tainted by the fact that she had him first. 

Her next track, “Please Please Please,” is the perfect song for the girls who are through being repeatedly disappointed by men. Carpenter encapsulates the relatable feeling of wanting to dive into a relationship but not wanting her pride to be hurt yet again– warning “Heartbreak is one thing / My egos another / I beg you don’t embarrass me / Motherfucker.” Her next song, “Good Graces,” strays from the disco-pop vibes of “Please Please Please” but follows that same theme. “Good Graces” is the first song on the album where Carpenter lets out another not-so-sweet side of herself. She warns her partner to treat her right, or he won’t like who she becomes. In her words, “I’ll switch it up like that so fast / Cause no one’s more amazing at / Turnin’ lovin’ into hatred.”

The album then takes a turn towards more vulnerable songs, which Carpenter laces with dry humor and sarcasm. She opens “Sharpest Tool” by poking fun at an ex’s lack of emotional intellect, singing, “We had sex / I met your best friends / Then a bird flies by and you forget.” Though there are more humorous lines throughout, these tracks let listeners in on everything lying underneath the surface of Carpenter’s connection – the things left unsaid, the lies, the unresolved feelings. She continues using humor as a device for her pain in “Coincidence,” saying incredulously “What a surprise / Your phone just died / Your car drove itself from LA to her thighs.”

Carpenter returns to her more light-hearted, flirty sound with tracks “Bed Chem” and “Espresso.” “Bed Chem” is perhaps Carpenter’s thirstiest song, jam-packed with innuendos. She jokes, “Come right on me / I mean camaraderie,” and even incorporates Shakespearean humor to say, “Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?” The language in “Espresso” leaves a bit more unsaid, with Carpenter likening herself to an addiction men just can’t give up. “Say you can’t sleep / Baby I know / That’s that me Espresso.”

Carpenter slows it down with “Dumb & Poetic,” then moves in a completely different direction as she channels her inner Dolly Parton for “Slim Pickins.” She complains that there are no good men anymore – but that doesn’t mean her bed has to stay empty while she waits for her Prince Charming. Once again, leaning into her witty side, she sings, “This boy doesn’t even know the difference between there, their, and they are / Yet he’s naked in my room.”

“Juno” is yet another song that doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Playing off the themes of its namesake, Carpenter sings, “One of me is cute but two though / Give it to me baby / You make me wanna make you fall in love.” She closes out the album on a more emotional note, however, with “Lie To Girls” and “Don’t Smile.” It’s surprising that these two are the album’s least played tracks on Spotify, as they’re definitely some of the most raw and relatable. In “Lie to Girls,” Carpenter reflects on deceiving herself in order to protect her perception of her relationship, calling out to the girls like her—who “love to read the cold hard facts and swear they’re incorrect / We love to mistake butterflies for cardiac arrest.”

Overall, Sabrina Carpenter strikes the perfect balance between humor and vulnerability on Short n’ Sweet. While she may be a “pop star,” Carpenter’s constantly relatable lyrics show that she is still only human like the rest of us. She, too, struggles with the ups and downs of love, but her wit and sarcasm remind listeners that there is always room for humor, even in heartbreak.