Tabitha Wilson
Sabrina Carpenter has gone from strength to strength, with her smash hit ‘Espresso’ catapulting the singer to mega-stardom last year, and now her highly anticipated album Short n’ Sweet has cemented her title as pop’s current princess.
Spawning hits such as ‘Taste’, ‘Bed Chem’, and ‘Please Please Please’, it was always going to be hard for the American starlet to top her career-defining and Grammy-winning record.
But with Short n’ Sweet (Deluxe), Carpenter has managed to do just that. She’s crafted gloriously catchy earworms and melancholy ballads sure to appeal to any pop fan.
Sabrina Carpenter gets introspective on ’15 Minutes’
Starting off strong, ’15 Minutes’ showcases Carpenter’s signature style. The fun, upbeat track perfectly blends sharp production and clever lyricism.
She uses innuendos and double meanings to examine her life in the limelight, reflecting on how people have started to view her since she broke into the mainstream.
Glossy synths and sun-soaked strings intertwine to create pop perfection. The razor-sharp production of ’15 Minutes’ sets the tone for the rest of the album.
‘Please Please Please’ (featuring Dolly Parton)
Despite ‘Please Please Please’ already being a lead single from the original version of the record, the deluxe remix featuring country legend Dolly Parton feels fresh and exciting, with a more acoustic feel from the start.
Carpenter’s team pushed this as the deluxe’s lead track with a music video promotes the track featuring both songstresses, but the track has received some criticism, with fans feeling Dolly’s vocals didn’t add anything to the song.
The mixing is quite poor, especially considering the top-quality production throughout Short n’ Sweet as a whole. It feels a little rushed.
With a bit more time and more focus on blending Sabrina and Dolly’s voices effectively, the track could definitely be improved.
‘Couldn’t Make It Any Harder’
A gloriously melodramatic ballad, ‘Couldn’t Make It Any Harder’ is a perfect tribute to one of Sabrina’s favourite songs to cover: ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ from the musical Grease.
Raw emotion pulses through the veins of this track, with the popstar laying bare her flaws and her difficulties in relationships.
The jazz-inspired tune further highlights the singer’s powerful range – her vocals simply shine.
Sabrina Carpenter is a ‘Busy Woman’
‘Busy Woman’ was first released as an exclusive track on a limited edition version of the original album last August, meaning many of the pop princesses’ super fans were already familiar with it.
However, listening to the track again felt fresh and fun. It has an 80s-inspired soundscape interlacing beautifully with Sabrina’s trademark witty lyricism.
Sabrina Carpenter has heard all the ‘Bad Reviews’
The final track, ‘Bad Reviews’, sees the pop superstar analysing her love life and the public’s opinion on her relationships.
She explains that even though she’s heard all of the ‘bad reviews’, she is still willing to continue dating as she doesn’t want to lose another partner.
Similarly to some of the other songs on the album, ‘Bad Reviews’ has country and jazz-inspired elements, making the track sonically enjoyable to listen to.
A perfect album closer, the track encapsulates many of the themes of Short n’ Sweet, leaving the door open for future releases, with many speculating that Sabrina’s next album will see more of a return to her previous work emails I can’t send, which was centred around break-ups and had sadder undertones.
This deluxe has made an already perfect album even better, and has set the star up for another year of success.
READ NEXT:
- ALBUM REVIEW: ‘CHARM’ BY CLAIRO
- ‘THE SECRET OF US’ REVIEW: GRACIE ABRAMS EMOTIONALLY CHARGED NEW ALBUM
- SHORT N’ SWEET: ARE AFFORDABLE CONCERT TICKETS HISTORY?
Featured image courtesy of Justin Higuchi on Openverse. No changes have been made to this image. Image license found here.
Tabitha Wilson
Tabitha is currently a reporter for Newsquest, and was previously an MA Journalism student at Sheffield University. She has worked as a maritime journalist in the past, and studied politics at Durham University. She enjoys writing about music, culture, and travel.