Last week, on August 23rd, Sabrina Carpenter released her 5th studio album Short N’ Sweet. This album spans 36 minutes made up of 12 songs, including two of her most popular hits “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.”

Right off the bat, the albums’ opener “Taste” immediately intrigues the listener with a unique alternative-pop sound and a stunning electric guitar. The same day the album came out,  a music video for “Taste,” was released, starring Carpenter and Jenna Ortega which provided an entertaining and unhinged visual for the song. 

I will say, after the first listen, I was skeptical about the album. Songs like “Sharpest Tool” and “Coincidence” didn’t stick out to me and sounded monotonous, but after a few more rounds of listening, I have to say they really grew on me. With each listen, I uncovered more layers to the song that made me enjoy it more and more. 

Taking the number one spot on this record, in my opinion, is track 6 “Bed Chem.” The best words to describe this song are “certified bop” Immediately after my first listen to the full album, this was the song I replayed first. Sonically, the whole track struck me as a perfectly pop-y piece with a unique chorus and fun verses, although the lyrics caught me off guard.

Another song that stuck out to me positively was “Good Graces,” which stylistically shares a similar vibe to some of Ariana Grande’s early work, while also having the essence of Tate McRae’s discography. Along with this song, the closing track “Don’t Smile” felt to me like a mix of Tame Impala and Suki Waterhouse’s sound.

Overall, the storytelling of this album was phenomenal, regardless of the blatantly explicit lyricism. This album gave us a glimpse into the true capabilities of Carpenter’s vocal range and the different runs she performed in many of her songs were nothing short of exceptional.