With 2024's
Short n' Sweet
,
Sabrina Carpenter
reintroduces herself on an instant-classic summer album of stylishly fun, smartly executed pop. Having started out as a Disney kid in the 2010s,
Carpenter
had already transcended her early years by the time she released 2022's
Emails I Can't Send,
an album that found her fusing a personal singer/songwriter style with warm pop and dance hooks.
takes her transformation even further, essentially starting fresh with a more potent and sophisticated sound, one that perfectly captures her cherubically resonant vocals and cheeky, eye-winking confidence. It doesn't hurt that she's teamed with two of the most empathetic pop producers in
Jack Antonoff
and
Julian Bunetta
. Also on board as co-writers and producers are
John Ryan
Ian Kirkpatrick
, and
Amy Allen
. This is a good team for
, who makes the most of her collaborations, moving between sultry, '70s-inspired disco and soul (via
Bunetta
) and breezy, '80s-inspired pop/rock (via
Antonoff
). There's the sparkling pop/rock opener, "Taste," which sounds improbably as if
Tom Petty
had written a song for
Madonna
in the '80s. We also get the romantic "Please Please Please," with its
Electric Light Orchestra
synths and multi-tracked
Fleetwood Mac
harmonies. Elsewhere,
deftly responds to the cotton-soft pop and R&B vibes of her contemporaries
Ariana Grande
Taylor Swift
on cuts like "Good Graces," "Sharpest Tool," and "Bed Chem" -- tracks that are truly low-key bangers that get stuck in your head. What's so great about her work here is how effortless and genuine the album sounds.
is a co-writer on every track, and there's a sharpness and gentle wit to the lyrics throughout. On "Taste," she revels the lasting impression she has surely made on her ex and by proxy his new paramour, coyly singing, "You're wonderin' why half his clothes went missin'/My body's where they're at/Now I'm gone, but you're still layin'/Next to me, one degree of separation." Even on the break-out summer hit "Espresso," with its flirty Euro-dance-club-meets-new-jack-swing vibe,
oozes a cool, knowing sensuality, ably owning the deliciously cheeky "me oh, my oh, that's me espresso" rhyme scheme. The song, which at first seems to be aiming for a fun, lightweight take on
Earth, Wind & Fire
, quickly reveals itself as one of those indispensable summer anthems that, as with all of
, is sure to bubble back up every year. ~ Matt Collar