That's that me espresso.
With a few nonsense words and a cheery funk groove, Sabrina Carpenter instantly went from just another pop hopeful to one of 2024's most undeniable stars this spring. The follow-up single "Please Please Please" went to No. 1, making Short n' Sweet, the artist's sixth album, by far her most anticipated work yet.
She set a high bar with those first couple of singles — but does the rest of Short n' Sweet hold up? In a group DM conversation, a panel of Exclaim! editors listen to the short, sweet LP and weigh in on its punny sexuality, whether "Espresso" overshadows the rest of the album, and the likelihood of us ever listening to the full thing ever again.
That's that pre-"Espresso"
Alex: What was everyone's relationship with Sabrina Carpenter before this album? Did you pay any attention to her before "Espresso"?
Kaelen: Defs not lol
Megan: I paid attention to "Nonsense" off of her last album. That song is so much fun and should've been a bigger hit. That's the one where she improvises the outros and gets censored by the BBC.
Sydney: I had heard the "Nonsense" outro jokes and "Feather" beforehand and liked that one. She was a bit after my age cohort on Disney (read: Family Channel in Canada). "Espresso" took a sec to grow on me, but after three weeks I Staff Picked it, so. I don't particularly like "Nonsense" as a track — its trap beat is a bit dated.
Alex: I'm definitely with Kaelen. Before "Espresso," I couldn't have picked her out of a lineup of two. I couldn't have told you the difference between her and Bebe Rexha and Rita Ora. Landfill pop.
Sydney: I knew her mostly from the manufactured O-Rod drama with her and their gay boyfriend.
Megan: Oh my god RIGHT. Sabrina Carpenter is the blonde in "drivers license"!
Alex: But "Espresso" is so good! Six months ago, if you had told me that Sabrina Carpenter would write a great pop-funk banger and I wouldn't be able to force myself to finish Dua Lipa's album, I wouldn't have believed you.
Kaelen: I think the thing is, by her own admission, she didn't really have an identity as an artist before maybe the last album. The songs were so whatever, and some of them were bad-bad lmao
Alex: Post-"Espresso," I definitely had a moment when I went back and tried to listen to some early Sabrina. I lasted about 15 seconds and turned it off.
Sydney: I think I was there for that lol
Alex: You totally were! I didn't understand why she was trying to be so R&B.
Sydney: She does R&B well when it's not so heavy-handed! Sometimes it just sounds like mid-late 2010s Ariana Grande "yuh" core. Case in point, "Bed Chem."
Megan: I do really feel like "Nonsense" was the first time she was really just being herself and getting silly with it. You can tell from what she says through her giggles on the recording that she didn't think it was going to even make the album. Now, I feel like she's leaning into that — plus the adoption of this retro flair, whether it's the funk of "Espresso" or the countrified "Please Please Please."
A New Wave of Fun Pop
Alex: Okay, so knowing that we all love "Espresso" (and I think I can safely assume we all love "Please Please Please" even though we haven't been talking about it as much yet) — does the album live up?
Kaelen: I will go on record as saying that I don't think I actually love "Espresso" as a song, though I appreciate it as a moment in culture.
Megan: Spicy! Please say more.
Kaelen: I think it's fun and I like what it represents as (hopefully) a new wave of pop music that isn't sad sack therapy shit, but I don't actually like listening to it all that much. I kinda think the album holds up to the hype though! It's much softer than I was expecting, but it's more or less what I thought it would be.
Sydney: I was kind of expecting those to be the standout tracks (kinda like the Fontaines D.C. release for me today). I still think those are some of the strongest tracks, but this is a bit more mature than I was expecting sonically.
Megan: "Come ride on me / I mean, camaraderie" on "Bed Chem" is making me SNORT.
Sydney: "Come ride on me" sounds... kinda gay. Even though she's the one remaining straight pop star we have. Well, barring the aforementioned Olivia Rodrigo lmao
Alex: Taylor.
Sydney: I've blocked her out of my psyche. Don't let the Gaylors read this.
Megan: The Gaylors are doxxing you immediately, Alex. But yeah, "So High School" sold that. That could've only been written by a straight person.
Looney Tunes Sexuality
Alex: Back to Short n' Sweet — I've never heard an album that's more fixated on sex while simultaneously being so un-sexy. Is her love language puns? This is some "innuendo? in-HER-end-o!" type shit.
Kaelen: She's definitely Looney Tunes sexy.
Sydney: Yeah I thought the "paintings with his tongue" line in "Taste" was a little on-the-nose. If she is Looney Tunes horny, I'm cool with it as long as it's a consistent character.
Megan: Her love language is absolutely puns, and a part of me really appreciates that. Another part of me can't take her Looney Tunes sexuality seriously either.
Sydney: Most horny pop music right now is very playful, which might be indicative of a generation with better sex education who know that laughing during sex is kinda the point.
Megan: That's a really good point! It's a net positive for sure.
Alex: Imagine watching Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny starts simulating a blowjob on a carrot. That's the vibe here.
Kaelen: I don't think I needed to imagine that, but thank you.
Sydney: That'd get episodes banned faster than all that racism. Did anyone else catch, "Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?" Genius.
Alex: LOL no I didn't notice that. I kinda love it. That's that "that's that me espresso" ridiculousness that I enjoy.
Sydney: Yeah, it feels like the issue is the middle ground Looney Tune-ry, when it's so over-the-top is where it works best. "Jack off to lyrics by Leonard Cohen" in "Dumb & Poetic" is also a choice. Every girl who's ever been in love with a poet and regretted it rise up.
Alex: "Jack off to lyrics by Leonard Cohen" is the same idea as Taylor's stupid typewriter lyric, except way funnier.
Megan: It reminded me of the boygenius "horny poetry" reference. Do we need a think-piece about how nobody has properly appreciated how horny Leonard Cohen was until now?
Sydney: Second listen I realize "Juno" is about a breeding kink fbksjhgkdfhgkdfhgdsfg
Alex: Is she like, "Did Juno I have a breeding kink?"
Sydney: LMAO
Musical Cosplay Tied Together by Personality
Megan: I like "Slim Pickins." It is, regrettably, an Antonoff, which is maybe why it feels more like cosplay than some of the other songs — but I still think her personality comes through in the lyrics.
Kaelen: Also, "Coincidence" has me wondering if Carpenter is a big Joni fan.
Alex: "Coincidence" is also VERY cosplay. Kaelen jinx.
Kaelen: lol.
Sydney: I'm on that one right now. "Since the Lord forgot my gay awakening" is an INSANE LINE.
Megan: Oh my god, the opening riff sounds just like "Big Yellow Taxi." Wow. I think a big through-line here is that she's putting way more of her personality into her music, which is great, but she's still trying on a lot of different sounds in a way that makes it hard for them all to be believable.
Kaelen: I'm curious to know what a more cohesive album would sound like from her, if she were ever able to nail down one particular sound. But I don't think the album sounds all over the place, really — it's all cushy enough to hang together in a way that makes sense. Her personality is what really pulls it all together.
Alex: I agree that it's cohesive enough — partly because I know this isn't an album that I will continue listening to as a capitol-A Album. I'll listen to the singles, and maybe throw on "Coincidence" if I'm in an acoustic pop sort of mood. But am I going to listen to it again in full after today? Probably not.
Sydney: I see myself revisiting a good chunk of the songs, but same.
Megan: Yeah, it's definitely not an album-album. It's about the songs on a more individual level, like a lot of pop these days, but they do play well together.
It Lives Up to Its Name
Alex: As much as I think the album is good, putting "Espresso" in the middle feels a bit like the Kool-Aid jug bursting through the wall. It just kinda flattens everything else. Ohh yeahhhh!!
Megan: I agree re: the "Espresso" placement, but I also don't know what would've been better? The album just being "Espresso" 12 times, maybe?
Sydney: "Espresso" Track 2? As a bonus track?
Alex: "Espresso" belongs on an album with "Get Lucky," "Slide" and "Say So."
Sydney: Don't forget "High Horse."
Alex: Here's something I like about it as an album: it IS short and sweet. Thank god for the 12-song, 36-minute album.
Sydney: Same. I can't do anything over 45 mins. Even that's a stretch. Maybe it's just my Gen Z, TikTok-ified attention span.
Alex: It might hurt her commercial performance compared to the artists who release a punishing 31-song endurance test just as a way to game the charts. But it's a WAY better listen. Not that I'm naming names or anything...
Megan: The shortness definitely bodes well for revisiting, even though I still think it'll be more on a song-driven basis for me personally. And that's okay! A 31-song album, however, is not.
Alex: The chances that she beats Post Malone for No. 1 album are slim.
Kaelen: Yeah, I doubt that's happening.
Megan: That's Kaelen's MAN.
Kaelen: I'm juicing the numbers to keep him at No. 1.
Sydney: Now THAT'S a poet.
It's Shaboozey Summer
Alex: Final judgement time: what's everyone's assessment of Short n' Sweet, and what would you grade it out of 10 if you had to decide right now.
Kaelen: I think we're looking at a solid 7/10. The ideal of a 7.
Sydney: I think that's fair.
Kaelen Bell: I think she accomplished what she set out to do.
Megan: Definitely a 7.
Sydney: Yeah, a more mature pop record that's playfully horny in a way that's kinda over-the-top and is both better and worse for it, depending on where it lands.
Megan: I think, overall, Sabrina Carpenter has been a breath of fresh air for mainstream pop this year. She and Chappell Roan — as well as Charli XCX, obviously — deserve their flowers for each making pop music that's actually fun, and each in their own different ways.
Alex: I'd almost lean 8 because the highs are so high. Giving us a couple of enduring pop singles is all we can really ask from a mainstream pop star. But ultimately, the throwaway songs ("Good Graces" as the third track is a bit of a dud) brings it down to a 7/10. The horniness feels sterile and forced, but she is bringing enough personality to make it more memorable than your average radio pop album, in this year of the pop flop.
Sydney: In May, when "Espresso" dropped, I thought she would've ruled the summer, but it feels like Chappell, Charli and her all share first place? Even though BRAT is a much better album.
Kaelen: I'm pretty comforted by that Top 3.
Sydney: Pop stars have personalities again and I think it's a huge reason why there's a "Big Three." Even if you think Charli might be mean to you if you met her, at least you know what her vibe is immediately.
Alex: The actual truth for normies is that it's Shaboozey Summer.
Sydney: It's especially a Shaboozey Summer for Dusty and Stripes.
Alex: My cats love Shaboozey! It's the actual truth. They will sit there and listen to "Tipsy." The ultimate litmus test of great pop: does it have appeal across species?
Sydney: Collaborated on a Sabrina Carpenter Hot Takes, that's that WE espresso. I'll see myself out.