Sabrina Carpenter has never shied away from her raw, vulnerable and often vulgar songwriting and storytelling. Almost exactly a year after the release of Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth studio album, “Short n’ Sweet,” the pop sensation released her seventh studio album, “Man’s Best Friend” on Aug. 29.
Right off the bat, “Man’s Best Friend” fell into a wave of controversy when Carpenter shared the cover. It showed Carpenter on her hands and knees with a man grabbing her hair. Many fans found this image to be somewhat disturbing, some even saying it felt dehumanizing toward women. Carpenter responded to these comments by releasing alternate album covers and seemingly not caring what other people had to say.
For this record, Carpenter once again found herself working with producers Jack Antonoff and John Ryan, as well as songwriter Amy Allen. This collaboration is quite obvious since “Man’s Best Friend” is very similar in sound and nature to “Short n’ Sweet.” Carpenter is pushing boundaries – and making some uncomfortable as she does it.
The album begins with the first single release of the album “Manchild.” This song is catchy and bubbly, like most of Carpenter’s music. This song makes sense to be placed at the beginning of the album because the adlib at the start, “Oh boy,” is the perfect intro to the whole record. Once again singing about how men can disappoint, a song of this nature is very expected from Carpenter.
The three most popular tracks follow the opening track and definitely fit into the provocative spirit of her music. The launch of the album was immediately followed by the release of the “Tears” music video, one of the most popular tracks. In a Billboard article written by Jason Lipshutz, “Tears” is the number one-ranked track. He said, “The dizzying disco production and breathy ad-libs combine for another no-brainer smash, but parsing the lyrics for Carpenter’s sardonic take on modern chivalry makes the experience all the more satisfying.” However, I think this song sounds too similar to what we’ve seen from Carpenter before; it would be nice to hear something new.
My personal favorite off this record is “Nobody’s Son.” While it is very similar to the others, I find that the lyrics in this song are far more relatable than some of the other tracks. The production on this song stands out despite the fact that it uses synths much like the rest. “Nobody’s Son” speaks on topics that don’t necessarily revolve around the sexual lyricism we usually see from Carpenter. It’s a refreshing track in the midst of her seductive songwriting.
Throughout this record, it can be hard to differentiate the songs from one another. From the use of dreamlike synths and drums, a lot of these tracks get repetitive when the record is played all the way through. Vocally and aesthetically, Carpenter has staked her claim as a pop princess and she has certainly gotten her anti-man mantra across.
While the intro to this album is strong with the tracks “Manchild” and “Tears,” the final song “Goodbye,” does not do this record as much justice as it should. The production on the song is strong and does a good job of individualizing it; however, the lyrics take this song right back into Carpenter’s safe zone. It’s not exactly out of the ordinary for what we typically hear from her.
Sabrina Carpenter has proven that she is nowhere near finished with her witty, sexual and vulnerable music. With two albums in a year, there is no doubt that she has been feeding her fans and working very hard in the studio. In the future, it would be nice to hear her step out of her comfort zone and try something new. Shocking all of her fans and surprising those who believe her stuff is too similar would certainly make a big difference.
