Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Short N’ Sweet’ Exposes Reality of Modern Dating

Carpenter actually stands at 5 ft, as she clarifies within the album’s opening observe, however the title is not merely derived from her Polly Pocket likeness. It additionally refers to vital relationships she’s lately weathered, whose transient durations belie the emotional wreckage they precipitated — what Gen Z would possibly describe as a “situationship.”

“I considered a few of these relationships and the way a few of them had been the shortest I’ve ever had, and so they affected me probably the most,” she advised Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.

Certainly, all through “Brief n’ Candy,” Carpenter is not coy concerning the vulgar, demoralizing underbelly of recent relationship. And but, she renders it bearable — even higher, enjoyable! — along with her enduring humorousness. Typically, as the children say, you simply must snort.

Well launched because the second single, “Please Please Please” affords the closest factor Carpenter has to a thesis: “Heartbreak is one factor, my ego’s one other / I urge you do not embarrass me, motherfucker.”

It is a masterful indictment of the data age: Now that everybody’s on-line, everybody has an opinion, and social-media stalking is a nationwide pastime. Falling in love has at all times been scary for private causes, however now, it additionally comes with a social threat. Each accomplice that makes it to “Instagram official” standing turns into a possible legal responsibility — or, for somebody of Carpenter’s stature, a scandal.

Album highlights “Style” and “Coincidence” each skewer a person who swore he was over his ex, only for Carpenter to see photographs of them on-line, like, two seconds after he left — a traditional story of digital courtship. Within the latter, Carpenter reveals the ex in query was texting the man soiled photographs whereas he and Carpenter had been nonetheless collectively. (The nerve!)

“What a shock, your cellphone simply died / Your automotive drove itself from LA to her thighs,” she teases within the bridge of “Coincidence,” a couplet that may ship a Laurel Canyon-era lyricist into cardiac arrest.

The album is peppered with sly winks like these, mixing lust and absurdity and the sting of rejection with spectacular finesse. “Dumb & Poetic” paints an all-too-familiar portrait of a male manipulator, the form of man who would insist “Struggle Membership” is the very best film ever made (with out really greedy its themes) and, in Carpenter’s phrases, “jack off to lyrics by Leonard Cohen.” One other playful standout, “Slim Pickins,” is Carrie Bradshaw by the use of Dolly Parton, lamenting “all of the douchebags in my cellphone” whereas low-key having fun with the drama.

In the meantime, “Good Graces” and “Mattress Chem” recall the attractive R&B-pop stylings of Ariana Grande — Carpenter’s true forebear, regardless of her latest affiliation with Taylor Swift. Grande’s 2019 opus “Thank U, Subsequent” was the same form of snapshot, capturing a really explicit second in Grande’s life and in popular culture, its tracklist full of text-speak and shoutouts to fashionable manufacturers.

These sorts of recent touchpoints can simply come off as cringy or corny, particularly in pop music, which already leans towards corn. (Even the ever-dedicated Swifties have balked at their idol’s use of slang phrases and phrases in her songs, like “Hits Completely different” and “Down Dangerous.”) However Carpenter makes use of them to construct the very bedrock of her storytelling. “Brief n’ Candy” is an album grounded firmly, virtually defiantly, within the current day — all of the struggles and ridiculous ills of relationship app-era romance, which, regardless of the frustration, often make for excellent wine-night fodder.

Towards all odds, her method pays off. It even feels relatable. Carpenter could also be a traditional blonde bombshell with the voice of an angel, recounting her mishaps for hundreds of thousands of followers, however she would not play it like she’s superior to these of us listening. It typically appears like she’s onstage, glancing into the gang and rolling her eyes, like, “Are you able to consider this man?” My takeaway: No, woman, I am unable to.

Ultimate grade: 8.8/10

Price listening to: “Style,” “Please Please Please,” “Sharpest Instrument,” “Coincidence,” “Mattress Chem,” “Espresso,” “Dumb & Poetic,” “Slim Pickins,” “Juno,” “Misinform Women”

Background music: “Good Graces”

Press skip: “Do not Smile”

*Ultimate album rating primarily based on songs per class (1 level for “Price listening to,” .5 for “Background music,” 0 for “Press skip”).