One Year Of Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter

By Kayla Harper

On August 23, 2024 actress, singer and songwriter, Sabrina Carpenter would release her sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet, and change the trajectory of her life. Carpenter’s music career quickly became prominent after the release of her Grammy-winning hit “Espresso” back in April 2024, however, this momentum would grow and she could continue to prosper after the release of Short n’ Sweet.

A year later, Carpenter has taken home her first two Grammy’s for “Espresso” and Short n’ Sweet, as well as embarked on a sold-out arena tour across the globe, which she will pick back up this fall returning to Toronto and several states. She also released a deluxe version of Short n’ Sweet containing several new songs and a remix with Dolly Parton on the hit “Please Please Please”.

By now, Carpenter is no stranger to sitting on the top of Billboard Charts. In August 2025, Carpenter is gearing up for the release of her seventh album, Man’s Best Friend on August 29, 2025. However, until then lets take a look back at the past year, a walk through memory lane and dive into the Short n’ Sweet era here at Off The Record.

SHORT N’ SWEET ALBUM RANKING

I will admit, I was initially disappointed on my first listen of Short n’ Sweet, however, this is because I was listening to it as a follow-up to emails i can’t send instead of as it’s own separate project. Aren’t we all a little disappointed at the album which follows up our favourite in an artists discography? Once I started listening to Short n’ Sweet on it’s own without these expectations in place I began to enjoy it for what it is -a sonically cohesive, upbeat, danceable album featuring some of Carpenter’s classic humours lyrics as she sings about heartbreak, love, sex, infidelity and all the things that make dating in the modern world so complicated- only then did I realize Short n’ Sweet just might be one of the best pop albums of this decade. Here is my ranking of each track on the standard album after a year:

12. “Lie To Girls”

One of the problems with have a narrow thematic element to a record like Short n’ Sweet is that when there is so many songs on the record about heartbreak, infidelity, breakups, etc. some of them are better than others and it’s more noticeable and people get tired of hearing the same thing. That’s how I feel about “Lie To Girls”, plus, I feel like it’s saying the same things that have been said in so. many. pop songs.

11. “Bed Chem”

While “Bed Chem” is a classic Carpenter song, from the stunning vocal performance, to the innuendos hidden throughout the lyrics and the pop beat, it’s simply more forgettable than some of the others on the record. The second verse is lyrical gold with all the puns though.

10. “Sharpest Tool”

“Sharpest Tool” isn’t necessarily a bad song, it’s just that there’s others on the record that say the same things in a better way, making it forgettable.

09. “Please Please Please”

“Please Please Please” was the second single to Short n’ Sweet and while it’s just as catchy as the rest of the album, it was overshadowed by “Espresso” because it just didn’t come close to it. Additionally I found it lyrically weaker than others, with a focus on humour rather than emotion.

08. “Coincidence”

“Coincidence” is a funny confrontational track about infidelity, acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies take the lead in this lyrical accusational piece. “Coincidence” has grown on me a lot since Short n’ Sweet initially came out, especially after seeing it live.

07. “Dumb & Poetic”

“Dumb & Poetic” is one of the more vulnerable-leaning tracks on the album where Carpenter opens up about a narcissistic, manipulative ex-lover. Lyrics rooted in detail and specificity offer some humour and insight into the otherwise sensitive track. It also highlights Carpenter’s vocals like no other on the album. While I don’t find myself going back to it often, I always enjoy singing along when it comes on.

06. “Taste”

I think “Taste” is the perfect song to kick off the record. Its opening lyrics specifically, “oh I leave quite an impression, five feet to be exact” plays into the album title, Short n’ Sweet really well. It opens the record with a fun upbeat pop song that gets listeners hyped for what’s to come. Additionally, it introduces a situation that will thematically flow in and out of the following tracks on the record.

05. “Juno”

A sensual track confessing Carpenter’s love to her partner, “Juno” is unserious, fun and danceable with a guitar solo in the middle part, which a lot of modern pop music lacks. “Juno” is one that I add to every upbeat summer playlist, it’s just too fun to sing along and dance to.

04. “Slim Pickins”

“Slim Pickins” is another humorous track on Short n’ Sweet led by acoustic guitar, the pop track almost has a country twang to it which suits Carpenter’s voice well. It became one of my favourites because “Slim Pickins” stands out on Short n’ Sweet as it offers something sonically refreshing, and the lyrics and overall meaning really spoke to me when we were seeing the show live.

03. “Good Graces”

“Good Graces” is a hidden gem on Short n’ Sweet. Despite being just as clever and catchy as the album’s hits, it never seemed to take off the same. However, “Good Graces” deserves the same treatment if not more. It’s an upbeat pop track with Carpenter’s classic witty humour weaved throughout the brutally honest and confrontational lyrics.

02. “Don’t Smile”

I’ve been a fan of Carpenter’s music for quite some time (long before Short n’ Sweet) and my favourite album of hers has been emails i can’t send since it came out in the summer of 2022. So, there’s no surprise that one of my favourite songs on her breakthrough album, Short n’ Sweet, is “Don’t Smile” as it contains the same lyrical vulnerability as emails i can’t send, but with the same addicting melodies and wit prominent in featured in Short n’ Sweet.

01. “Espresso”

If you haven’t heard Sabrina Carpenter’s hit “Espresso”, you’ve been living under a mountain. The catchy pop earworm took over the world in the summer of 2024 changing the trajectory of Carpenter’s music career and landing her spots at the top of Billboard Charts. Suddenly she wasn’t an ex-Disney actress, with a lowkey music career, she was a pop-music sensation.

Aside from its iconic influence on the industry and Carpenter’s career, “Espresso” takes the top spot on Short n’ Sweet for me because I just can’t get tired of it! It’s one of my favourite songs to dance to and instantly puts me in a good mood with its confident lyrics, rhythm and annoyingly catchy melody.

IT’S MORE THAN JUST A SHALLOW POP ALBUM – THE STORY BEHIND SHORT N’ SWEET

While it seems simplistic and focused on making the catchiest, most lyrically humours pop hits, Short n’ Sweet is more than that. It’s not just sardonically cohesive, but it has a thematic element that seems to flow through the album effortlessly, showing a progression of character or situation. It’s not a concept album, or intentionally telling a story, but there is several there for listeners who read between the lines.

1. The “I Guess I’ll End This Life Alone” Arc

The first thematic progression kicks off with the album’s opening track “Taste”. In the aftermath of a breakup, the narrator watches their ex-lover move on with someone new. “Taste” is a letter to the new lover declaring that the narrator has left a permanent mark on their partner, all of his jokes, clothes and personality is because of her.

Later on, “Sharpest Tool” gives us more insight into this past relationship -an on-and-off rocky road challenged by communication issues and infidelity which is deeper explored on the next track “Coincidence”. “Coincidence” focuses on the infidelity that ultimately was the deal-breaker for this relationship. Lyrics like “this week you’re holding space for her tongue in your mouth” (“Coincidence”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024) seem to suggest this is the same woman the narrator is referring to in “Taste”: “you’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissing you…he pins you down on the carpet, makes paintings with his tongue” (“Taste“, Short n’ Sweet, 2024)

In the aftermath of this relationship the narrator finds themselves reflecting on their ex-lovers character and her own ignorance that allowed her to get hurt by him, this is established on the track “Dumb & Poetic”. Lyrics such as “you’re so sad there’s no communication” (“Dumb & Poetic”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024) and “you’re confused and I’m upset, but we never talk about it” (“Sharpest Tool”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024) suggest that this is the same person referred to in the previous songs in this “storyline.”

“Slim Pickins” is where the first arc seems to leave off and transition into the second one. In “Slim Pickins” the narrator accepts their defeat in regards to another failed relationship and confesses the difficulties in modern dating. Later on she states, “this boy doesn’t even know the difference between there, their and they are” (“Slim Pickins”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024) which seems to allude to the boy from “Sharpest Tool”: “I know you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed, we had sex, I met you’re best friend” (“Sharpest Tool”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024). The ultimate conclusion is that the narrator will end their life alone, ultimately just taking what they can get, which leads us into the next story arc.

2. The “You Make Me Wanna Make You Fall In Love” Arc

The second story arc seems to follow the narrator as she begins to fall for someone new. Starting off with the second track, “Please Please Please” the narrator introduces this new love interest and pleads that they aren’t dumb enough to make the same mistakes as the last, despite her friends doubts. We see this theme further established on the next track, “Good Graces” when the narrator declares her unconditional love and devotion to this person, until he screws up, which she explains, “boy, it’s not that complicated, you should stay in my good graces” (“Good Graces”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024).

The next song in this sequence is later on. A sensual track that explores the chemistry between the two, “Bed Chem” seems to flashback to when these two characters met and their relationship progression since. The following track, “Espresso” seems to solidify the narrator’s feelings towards this person since spending more time with them as well as her intentions to not put up with any games this time around. A couple tracks later, “Juno” is a confession of the narrator’s devotion to this person, “late at night, I’m thinking ’bout you” (“Juno”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024).seems to tie back to lyrics from “Espresso”: “thinking ’bout me every night” (“Espresso”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024).

Alternate Endings

The final tracks on the album, “Lie To Girls” and “Don’t Smile” are interesting because they could fit in to either thematic arc. Either offering more insight into the aftermath of the relationship in the first storyline, “you don’t have to lie to girls, if they like you they’ll just lie to themselves” (“Lie To Girls”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024) ties into, “you’re so dumb and poetic it’s just what I fall for I like the aesthetic” (“Dumb & Poetic”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024).

Additionally, “you’re supposed to think about me every time you hold her” (“Don’t Smile”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024). ties into themes of cheating established in songs like “Taste”, “Sharpest Tool” and “Coincidence” in the first story arc.

However, the two tracks could also offer an alternate and devastating ending to the second thematic sequence. “Lie To Girls” suggesting that our narrator’s ignorance has failed her once again and despite her pleading on “Please Please Please” this person has hurt her just like the last and she blames herself for it. “Don’t Smile” further establishing her heartbreak in the aftermath, “don’t smile because it happened, baby, cry because it’s over” (“Don’t Smile”, Short n’ Sweet, 2024).

There is no confirmed storyline/story arcs within this album, compiling the songs this way was simply for fun, but also as a way to show people there is more to music than what we hear.

TAKE ME BACK TO THE SHORT N’ SWEET TOUR

Of course I cannot reminisce on the Short n’ Sweet album era without remembering the Short n’ Sweet tour. I was lucky to attend the second night in Toronto with my sister and you can read all about the experience here as well as check out some additional photos from the event here.

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