In honour of the Grammys being tonight and in honor of this artist winning her first-ever Grammy, we are going to be doing a very late but much-needed album review of the great Short n Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter. So let’s get into it. We’re going to go track by track, and I’m going to be sharing my thoughts on each song because this album was so incredibly special to me. I think it’s one of the best pop albums I’ve heard in a really, really long time—along with Brat. But Brat is on a whole other level that we won’t get into today. So we’re going to be narrowing our focus mainly on Sabrina Carpenter.

Taste

Now, Taste is the opener of the album, and I don’t think she could have picked any other song to be the opener. This song, to me, is so timeless and classic. It has that kind of sultry yet classic vibe to it. It takes inspiration from Britney Spears to 70s and 80s rock music, and it all intertwines into one. To me, this song kind of reminds me of “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes. It just has that 80s movie soundtrack feel to it, which makes it an even better opener for this album.

I also got to see her live back in November. I think she sold out the Pacific Coliseum, and she rocked the show. Having this as her opener was just incredible. It drew you into the show—it felt like being in a TV show or movie for almost two hours. It was one of the best openers I’ve ever heard in my life. If you’re going to open an album, you open it with a song like Taste.

Please Please Please

Please Please Please is our second track on the album. This song is so incredibly relatable, and it also pays homage to her last album because it pokes fun at a girl’s type. If you haven’t heard this song, there’s a line that goes, “I beg you, don’t embarrass me, mother f—er,”  is just so real.

It’s such a simple line, yet it sums up every experience that any girl has had in their life with a partner. Every girl has, at least once in their life, dated a stupid boy who embarrassed the crap out of them. So when you move on to the next one and haven’t changed your type, you’re just begging and pleading, “Please don’t prove me right,” as she says in the song.

Please Please Please has a very melodic and colourful sound. If you close your eyes, you can almost see sparkles of colour around you. It’s like a bunch of soft fireworks or comparable to eating a chocolate cake—sweet, yet if you eat too much, you might get a tummy ache. The meaning of the song is bittersweet, and I just purely love it. It’s incredibly relatable.

Good Graces

Now, Good Graces— as soon as I heard it, it became one of my favourites immediately. I have never, ever been hooked on a song so fast. I was just blown away because it’s so incredibly real.

In the song, she says, “Boy, it’s not that complicated, you should stay in my good graces,” and it’s a warning— a full-on warning. It’s also an incredible anthem for the ladies. Like, “You should stay in my good graces because I will switch it up on you very fast.” It’s definitely a getting-ready-to-go-out kind of song and has absolutely become an anthem within the album.

Sharpest Tool

Ohh, Sharpest Tool. Our third track, and she is something very, very, very special to my heart. I think Sharpest Tool is one of the most beautiful songs Sabrina Carpenter has ever released.

Sharpest Tool is such a sad kind of story. You feel like you’re riding this emotional rollercoaster with her when you listen to it. From beginning to end, she takes you down this path of her life. Again, back to the relatability— a lot of her experiences resonate with young women and men today.

Sharpest Tool is such an important song that brings this album together. To me, it’s one of the biggest puzzle pieces that completes this album.

Coincidence

Now, Coincidence. Coincidence is awesome. It has that kind of country feel to it—you’ve got the tambourines, the drums, the snares. It’s awesome. It makes you want to clap your hands, but then when you listen to the lyrics, you realize it’s still kind of a sad song.

It’s a huge “screw you” anthem, but at the same time, it’s a realization moment—like, “Ohh, you played me? Of course, you did.” The song basically describes an ex who was still in contact with their ex, and she questions if everything they did together was really just a coincidence.

When she performed it live, it was so much fun because she really got the crowd to interact. That’s what makes this song really special. Everybody knew this song was going to be an interactive crowd song, and I thought it was awesome. The musicality is incredible and off the charts.

Bed Chem

Okay, okay—Bed Chem. Now, Bed Chem is one of the most seductive songs I’ve heard from her in a while, and it’s also so funny.

Her wordplay in this album and in her entire career is incredibly witty and smart. She pulls that into her music, and that’s what I love about Sabrina the most. Lines like “Come ride on me. I mean camaraderie”—like, come on, that’s hilarious! It reminds me of her song Nonsense, and I think it kind of pays homage to that song from her last album, Emails I Can’t Send.

This song is so cute. It also has a very 70s-type vibe with its incredible use of synths and a slow-disco feel that makes you want to get up and dance.

So that’s my Part 1 of the Short n Sweet album review! Come back for Part 2, where we’ll review the second half of her album. We still have six more songs to go!