Summer offered great music – but this wasn’t it
Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. – Sabrina Carpenter’s new album Short n’ Sweet is a mediocre pop album in a summer full of pop standouts.
With a mix of classic pop, pop-country, and a kick of 80s pop, the album is a refreshing listen, but it won’t stand the test of time.
Carpenter redefines herself through “Taste,” a cheerful pop classic with a seductive edge.
Her outstanding voice shifts between vengeful and victorious, commenting on a new lover.
“I heard you’re back together/and if that’s true/you’ll just have to taste me/when he’s kissing you,” Carpenter slyly remarks on the chorus.
“If you want forever/I bet you do/just know you’ll taste me too.”
Carpenter’s sparkling charm twinkles throughout the album, showing off confidence.
“I’m working late/cause I’m a singer,” Carpenter coos. “Oh he looks so cute/wrapped around my finger.”
Carpenter builds upon her hits “Feather” and “Nonsense,” unabashedly referencing sex.
She experiments with dirty jokes and tongue-in-cheek lyrics.
In “Slim Pickins,” Carpenter whines about her inability to find a decent man.
“Yet he’s naked in my room/Missing all the things he’s missing/god knows that he isn’t living large,” she sings.
Carpenter’s play on words adds a humorous touch to the album, showing off her strengths as a pop personality.
But Carpenter’s empowered sexuality comes at the cost of her lyricism.
Songs like “Espresso” and “Good Graces” are earworm hits.
But others suffer from poor writing. “Dumb and Poetic” feels like an imitation of Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” without emotional depth.
Carpenter’s imagery feels generic, and her Swiftian persona feels cheap.
The writing also lacks Carpenter’s identity. The album isn’t vulnerable, nor is it a bubblegum pop album full of cheery, raunchy hits.
The poor pacing of the album fails to allow the album to perform at its highest potential.
The beginning of the album is pop perfection, with back-to-back hits and slam dunks. But the end is a snooze fest.
While I enjoyed the album, I can’t see it standing the test of time.
There’s no sense that the album contains any instant classics in a summer full of Charli XCX and Chapell Roan.
I hoped this album would live up to its name. It didn’t.
Dana Kim is a Senior Reporter with Youth Journalism International from Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
‘Taste’ is just tasteless
Copenhagen, DENMARK – Sabrina Carpenter released her new album Short ‘n Sweet on Friday. In it came the new song “Taste” with a music video. I was shocked to watch the music video.
Carpenter, 25, released “Taste” along with the music video directed by Dave Meyers. The beginning includes a viewer discretion warning due to graphic violence. I completely disregarded this, but instantly regretted it.
I am a massive Carpenter fan and have loved all her recent songs and music videos, but this one was different. I finished watching it and thought, why?
Usually, I finish watching it and think wow, that videography work was great, or the music fit well with the video. But not this time.
Admittedly it is comedy violence, but I found quite a lot to be unnecessary. For example, in the first scene Carpenter has many different knives and other torture equipment lying out on her bed while she sings about how she wants to kill someone.
It appears the goal was to hit a target of several scenes with violence. The number of times Carpenter almost died was completely stupid. By far the worst scene was the one where Carpenter came flying out of a two-story building.
Apart from the completely unnecessary violence, the whole premise of the song and video is about how she is a deranged maniac over the fact her boyfriend cheated. The whole implication is that when women are cheated on, they act like this. It is 100% stereotyping women into this sexist box.
Many who listen to Carpenter are young and may find the violence extremely upsetting to watch. Not only is there violence, but also a lot of blood.
She makes up for some of this with her music, which as always was on point with excellent vocals.
But who is her target audience? What is this encouraging young people to want to do? I am so lost with this song but hopefully she can make it up with another music video in the future.
Noah Haynes is a Senior Reporter with Youth Journalism International from Copenhagen, Denmark.
