Sabrina Carpenter, the woman that you are! The former Disney starlet has been doing this for years, but it wasn’t until 2024 that her career truly broke through with a true monocultural, inescapable music moment. And that moment was “Espresso.” We don’t have to elaborate on that, but it’s important to point out how important it was for Sabrina to have the right material on deck to follow up such a monster hit — and follow it up she did.
First came “Please Please Please,” the Jack Antonoff-produced No.1 hit that warned every motherfucker out there not to embarrass her, after which came “Taste,” the taunting, rock-inspired kissoff anthem that she gave an instantly iconic music video in which she makes out with Jenna Ortega. This is short and sweet and she knows what she’s doing.
To close out the Summer of Sabrina, she finally released Short n’ Sweet, her sixth studio album that will cement her place at the top of pop music. Over the course of 12 songs, Sabrina seamlessly jumps between genres, showcasing her stunning vocal ability with her even more irresistible songwriting. Really, it’s her lyrics that push her over the edge here: They’re brazen and clever and really fucking funny, all while remaining relatable. Consider us officially Carpenters.
Now, we’re ranking every single song from the album below.
12. Dumb & Poetic
“Dumb & Poetic” is a knowingly savage kissoff track in the form of a moody, acoustic guitar-driven diaristic song. She’s calling out an ex for all of his aesthetically-driven life choices and empty values, saying he likes to “jack off to lyrics to Leonard Cohen.” I mean, her mind! The details in this one are fantastic and funny and honest as fuck, even if they’re delivered in a serious-sounding package. And that’s kind of a signature Sabrina move: Songs that sound one way, but have lyrics tell a slightly different story.
11. Sharpest Tool
This one has some of Jack Antonoff’s pulsing, minimalist production touches, as well as Sabrina’s unique brand of brashly honest lyrics. “We never talk about how you found God at your ex’s house,” she sings on the bridge as she calls out an ex who left her on read. While it’s not the album’s most memorable tracks, it’s provides some nice balance among Short n’ Sweet’s more boisterous, in-your-face moments.
10. Lie To Girls
On “Lie To Girls,” Sabrina demonstrates that she’s able to take some of the blame in the crumbling of a relationship. She can own up to her own culpability. She sings, “You don’t have to lie to girls; if they like you, they’ll just lie to themselves. Don’t I know it better than anyone else?” Having the courage to admit that? Now that’s mother.
9. Don’t Smile
Sabrina delivers the line “don’t smile because it’s over, cry because it’s over” so convincingly that you initially kind of think that’s how that phrase has always been said. She said, “fuck toxic positivity — feel those feelings!” “Don’t Smile” is a gorgeous, slinky breakup anthem where Sabrina lets herself mourn the loss of a relationship instead of just saying “fuck my ex” and moving on, because sometimes that just isn’t possible.
8. Coincidence
This strummy tune is one of those songs that sounds like it’s a feel good vibe, but then you listen to the lyrics and you’re like, “Oh, wait — mama is MAD!” It’s just that the One Direction-y “na na na” background singing makes being mad sound really fun. “Coincidence” is a sarcastic callout track to a man who went back to his ex and is lying about it. We’ve all been there, and Sabrina feels like she’s singing for all of us. This one has one of the album’s strongest verses, which contains the lyric, “your car drove itself from L.A. to her thighs.” Poetry!
7. Good Graces
This one feels like it would be right at home in the early 2000’s pop and R&B landscape, showcasing Sabrina’s ability to blend genres. Her voice feels like it hits its sweet spot here, and the line, “no one’s more amazing at turning loving into hatred” could almost serve as a thesis statement for half of her music (complimentary). Once you get to the booming “I won’t give you a fuck about you” refrain after the chorus, you immediately want to heed her warning and stay in her good graces — for life.
6. Slim Pickins
In which Sabrina takes a page from Kacey Musgraves’ playbook and crafts an irresistible modern country ditty packed with relatable one-liners? Sign us up. Who amongst us hasn’t also had the thought, “A boy who’s jacked and kind? Can’t find him to save my life,” or doesn’t have “douchebags in my phone.” Our short n’ sweet queen has a knack for describing feelings and experiences and thoughts that we all have in a blunt and funny way, and it turns out that a plucky country track is a phenomenal sound to do that to. Oh, and thank you to Sabrina Carpenter for teaching us the difference between “there,” “their” and “they are!”
5. Taste
A kiss-off anthem for the ages dedicated to the ex that her own ex returned to, taunting her with the idea that she’ll never not taste her when they kiss, “Taste” was enough of a moment on its own to become instant pop canon. Add on top of that the campy, “Death Becomes Her”-inspired music video co-starring Jenna Ortega, and you have a true pop culture moment. The guitar-laden “Taste” is such a perfect way to kick off the album, because it spotlights the impeccable way that Sabrina is able to toe the line between being pissed off and detached. She cares enough to write a song about you, but not because she wants to win you back — she just has some things she has to get off of her chest.
4. Please Please Please
Some random gay on Twitter famously proclaimed after the release of “Please Please Please” that he’d never “seen someone fumble a second single this hard,” and we’re not sure what song he was listening to, but it went on to become Sabrina’s first No.1 hit — and for good reason. The twinkling, synth-heavy hit is so pleasing to listen to, but still has some of her classic biting lyrics like, “Please don’t embarrass me, motherfucker.” That Twitter gay might’ve tried to, but thankfully he didn’t succeed.
3. Juno
A whole song about potentially letting someone impregnate her because of how big his dick is, named after the iconic 2007 film starring Elliot Page? I’m sorry, but this woman is absolutely iconic. The ‘80s-inspired song features even more incredible lines like “I’m so fucking horny” and “Whole package, babe, I like the way you fit, God bless your dad’s genetics.” In “Juno,” Sabrina gave girls a great song to fuck to and gays an even better song to bottom to. We thank her for her service.
2. Bed Chem
This sexy, slinky tune is full of signature Sabrina innuendo and showcases her underappreciated falsetto. Not to mention the fact that it has the absolute best lyric of the entire album: “Come right on me, I mean camaraderie.” I mean, can you even? Her mind! It wasn’t surprising to watch this one take off on TikTok after Short n’ Sweet came out, because it deserved its moment in the sun.
- Espresso
There’s a reason that this song changed her career forever — and it’s because it’s a certified bop. And it’s not just a run of the mill bop that could’ve come from anyone. “Espresso” perfectly exemplifies Sabrina’s specific brand of pop that blends undeniable earworms with unapologetic cheekiness, doing weird things to the English language that you didn’t even know were allowed. Like, “that’s that me espresso?” Do we even know what that really means? Does it matter? Not at all. “Espresso” was the song of the summer, it was what powered her caffeinated rise to the top of pop and we need to put some respect on its name.
