Sabrina Carpenter dropped her sixth album, “Short n’ Sweet,” on August 23, but it’s her most consequential release yet, coming on the heels of two breakthrough hit singles: “Espresso,” which has so far peaked at number-three on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Please Please Please,” her first chart-topper. The new album includes those two blockbusters, but how do the other 10 tracks compare?
Thus far, “Short n’ Sweet” has a strong MetaCritic score of 78 based on 14 reviews counted thus far: 12 are classified as positive and two are mixed, but none are negative. Jem Aswad (Variety) is especially fond of the collection, calling it “the powerful next step in her evolution as an artist, person and persona.” It “seals her arrival as a pop superstar,” according to Rob Sheffield (Rolling Stone). Charles Lyons-Burt (Slant) writes, “Carpenter and her collaborators, who include Jack Antonoff on a third of the songs, deftly integrate an evolving tapestry of sounds, making for a near-seamless pop experience.” And Quinn Moreland (Pitchfork) says that “Carpenter largely pulls off these stylistic crossovers thanks to a big-ass voice that she wields with ease.”
Elsewhere, Grace Robins-Somerville (Paste) is head-over-heels for the opening track, “Taste,” but “the litany of breakup songs about a famous guy who left Carpenter to slink back to his also-famous ex lose their luster.” Tanatat Khuttapan (The Line of Best Fit) says, “Despite boasting musical variety, ‘Short n’ Sweet’ gropes safely for brief romances and situationships,” and “inevitably trips into a grievously wobbly and inconsistent territory” with her weaker songs. Still, the lion’s share of reviews point to an artist who made a big impression on the pop culture landscape and backed it up.
This sets Carpenter up for potential Grammys recognition. Her MetaCritic score is on par with Miley Cyrus‘s “Endless Summer Vacation,” and the two young women share similar circumstances: former child stars releasing the biggest hits of their careers and following them up with respected albums. Cyrus’s “Flowers” won Record of the Year, and “Summer Vacation” earned a nom for Album of the Year. Carpenter could end up in those races too. Based on the latest predictions of Gold Derby users, she ranks 11th for Album of the Year, just three slots shy of a likely nomination. But she’s one of the front-runners for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, ranked second in both races for “Espresso.” So watch for her to give the awards a welcome jolt of caffeine.
