Sabrina Carpenter’s Masterful, NSFW ‘Short n’ Sweet’: Album Review

“Brief and Candy” could be Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth album, however even she says it feels extra like her second. After the artistic breakthrough of 2022’s “Emails I Can’t Ship” — which we’ll name her “Disney-mancipation” after practically a decade as a baby star — “S n’ S” is the highly effective subsequent step in her evolution as an artist, particular person and persona.

You already know the persona from this album’s two lead singles, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” and their movies: A girl who’s fairly however robust, humorous, sassy, assured, sexually up-front and with a fiery imply streak, however who’s not with out insecurities and heartache. The songs listed below are practically all about love, each sort of it: Real love, silly love, crushes, I-really-should-know-better love that’s really lust, revenge, either side of infidelity, and, particularly on the final two songs, heartbreak. However largely, together with the bubbling hooks the album’s lead singles have led followers to anticipate, there’s much more of the “Did she simply say what I believe she mentioned?” within the lyrics, that are crammed with f-bombs, sexual innuendos and hilarious put-downs which are much more withering as a result of she sings practically all of them so sweetly.

Like what? “Attempt to come off such as you’re smooth and well-spoken/ Jack off to lyrics by Leonard Cohen” (“Dumb and Poetic”); “Final week, you didn’t have any doubts/ This week, you’re holding area for her tongue in your mouth” (“Coincidence”); “I confirmed my pals, then we high-fived/ Sorry in the event you really feel objеctified” (“Juno”); “The place artwork thou? Why not uponeth me?” (“Mattress Chem”); “I heard you’re again collectively and if that’s true/ You’ll simply must style me when he’s kissin’ you” (“Style”); “Heartbreak is one factor, my ego’s one other/ I urge you, don’t embarrass me, motherfucker” (“Please Please Please”); and, er, “I’m so fuckin’ attractive” (“Juno”). Subtext: We will have enjoyable however don’t mess with me.

True to its title, the album cruises rapidly a wild number of moods and musical genres over the course of its 12 songs and 36 minutes, meshing pop, R&B, alt-rock and even nation right into a far-reaching however surprisingly cohesive complete. There are flashes of feathery ‘80s synthesizers, ‘90s R&B and the occasional waft of Ariana and Taylor, however a part of the album’s cohesion comes from placing complimentary songs collectively. For instance, the sharp sweetness of the opening “Style” segues easily into the Dolly Parton-meets-ABBA of “Please Please Please” regardless that they sound nothing alike, and the 2 acoustic-based songs — the ballad “Dumb and Poetic” and the country-leaning “Slim Pickins” — are grouped collectively, making a mini acoustic set in the course of the album.

Though the album options most of the similar collaborators from “Emails,” right here co-writer Amy Allen (who’s having a blockbuster yr with Tate McRae and Justin Timberlake in addition to each track on “Brief n’ Candy”) and producers Julian Bunetta and John Ryan (each One Course and Harry Types alums) have stepped forcefully into the forefront, with the ever-present Jack Antonoff making his versatile mark on 4 songs. Not surprisingly, the Taylorisms peak considered one of his contributions, “Sharpest Device,” however you additionally catch a little bit on “Mattress Chem,” which lays a Swiftian polysyllabic melody on prime of a lite-R&B musical mattress.

However make no mistake, that is Carpenter’s present all the best way, and the songs listed below are masterfully versatile: “Style” could possibly be an alt-rock anthem if the guitars have been louder, “Good Graces” is a fast-paced blast of ‘90s R&B-pop, and “Slim Pickins” simply wants a fiddle to be a full-on nation track, however as an alternative they fuse a number of kinds into a various however constant sound that holds via your entire album.

But after all of the sass and intercourse and swagger, the album ends on a bittersweet word with the wistful “Misinform Ladies” (“You don’t must lie to ladies/ In the event that they such as you, they’ll simply misinform themselves”) and the closing “Don’t Smile,” a wistful Janet Jackson-esque ballad the place Carpenter’s closely echoed voice drops any pretense of toughness and flips an previous cliché on its head — “Don’t smile as a result of it occurred/ Cry as a result of it’s over” — and sings with disappointment a few misplaced love. It’s an unexpectedly tender ending to an album that not solely establishes Carpenter as a multifaceted singer, but additionally multidimensional famous person.