It’s no secret that Sabrina Carpenter is on the rise to fame as America’s pop princess. She demonstrated this even further on Valentine’s Day by unveiling a deluxe edition of her hit album Short n’ Sweet, packed with exclusive bonus tracks and imaginative remixes that captivated her audience and further solidified her status as a pop sensation. Each track explores new dimensions of flirty pop and romance, solidifying Carpenter as a powerhouse in today’s music industry and as an icon in the making.
“15 Minutes”:
This song was a fantastic opening to the deluxe version of this album in my opinion. It feels like the sister version of the album’s opening song “Taste,” with its sly comments embedded with pop culture drama. “15 Minutes” is a tinged bop where Sabrina references her breakout moment with this project being her “15 minutes of fame.” This song is both a victory strut for coming out on top with the Short n’ Sweet era after 10 years in the industry and honest observation of how she got better treatment after her star shot to mainstream fame.
Thanks to its infectious chorus and sharp wordplay, this song has become an absolute hit on TikTok. Carpenter is the queen of double entendres, and this track proves it.
“Please Please Please (Feat Dolly Parton)”:
This is one of the songs on the original album but with a twist! Sabrina’s vocals are clear and crisp as day but I fear I cannot say the same for the iconic Dolly Parton. Sabrina Carpenter has been vocal about how much she loves Dolly Parton, so I truly believe this song is more a tribute to Sabrina’s admiration for Dolly than a work of cohesive art.
“Please Please Please” already had the slightest country twang on the original, and Dolly’s southern charm definitely adds to the piece as a collective. But unfortunately, I feel their voices just don’t blend as well as you think they would in theory. Though a great triumph to both of their careers, this is a song I will be pressing delete for when it comes to my Spotify queue.
“Busy Woman”:
Now to my personal favorite on this deluxe album, “Busy Woman.” This song was so addicting that when I first heard it leak off the vinyl I started listening to the podcast version on Spotify before it came out. It’s a sea of sexual innuendos but in the utmost humorous way. The best line in this song is easily in the second verse, as Carpenter plainly says, “If you don’t want me, I’ll just deem you gay.”
This beautifully produced pop hit has a 10/10 danceability score in my eyes and will always be my favorite Carpenter song. It has hints of prominent disco-pop influences throughout the song that overall make it a fun, flirty, kinky song that will be stuck in your head for days on end.
“Couldn’t Make It Any Harder”:
Sabrina’s melancholic somber tone encapsulates all that is true in love as a teenage girl. This song is a beautiful heartbroken melody, and it shows the angelic vocals that Sabrina used to hypnotize several millions around the world on her rise to stardom.
While Carpenter is known for her upbeat anthems and witty lyrics, she delivers lullabies of heartbreak just as effortlessly. Despite her confident stage presence, her introspective songwriting makes listeners feel the weight of her insecurities.
“Bad Reviews”:
I cannot imagine a more perfect ending to the deluxe than “Bad Reviews.” It dives a little deeper into the country style of Carpenter’s repertoire, but also can pass as a sister song to “Please Please Please.” After her very public breakup with her now ex-boyfriend Barry Keoghan, it seems as though she has a new raw emotional depth to offer. The song touches on the difficulty of balancing romantic and platonic relationships — especially at a young age. By acknowledging her flaws, Carpenter crafts a song that feels both deeply personal and universally relatable.
As always, Sabrina has delivered a perfect mix of humor and vulnerability in her album that I simply cannot get enough of. This deluxe album offers an expanded look into all of the emotions that made up the first 12 tracks of the standard album. She has made some great additions to her original album and keeps her signature humor and vulnerability throughout. Sabrina’s signature charm sparkles through these tracks oh-so very brightly, and I think it’s safe to say Short n’ Sweet is exactly as its title suggests — concise, captivating, and utterly irresistible.