Sabrina Carpenter’s latest album Man’s Best Friend was released on Friday September 5, recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. This album received much social media criticism during rollout, however, now that we can listen to the full project, fans seemingly have had a change of heart.
Sabrina Carpenter got her start on Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World from 2014 to 2017 but has become popular again for her witty lyrics and catchy pop instrumentals. Her last album Short & Sweet brought back old fans and gained her a larger, following. As she showed her ability to provide humor while writing honest songs and her storytelling creativity though music videos.
As her last album Short & Sweet came out a year ago, fans were awaiting a new era. Sabrina began teasing a new album as she ended the Short & Sweet Tour in Fall 2024 with new outfits and hairstyles. She later posted the Man’s Best Friend cover and revealed the name on social media, the cover features Sabrina on her knees in front of a faceless man. This resulted in fans feeling as though she was degrading herself and other women. However, after listening to the album, it becomes apparent that she’s poking fun at her past choices in men and explain to them how easy it is to treat women right.
The first single “Manchild”, is a song that felt similar lyrically and instrumentally to her last album songs like “Please, Please, Please” stylistically and “Sharpest Tool” conceptually. The similarity also had fans a bit worried the album would be a sequel to Short & Sweet rather than being something different. Now that we are able to hear the full project fans have noticed there was growth between the two albums. Man’s Best Friend has roots in disco, funk, and synth-rock, each track has an element of surprise making it a fun listen even after multiple times through.
“When Did You Get Hot?”, the eighth track, has a very different instrumental and vocal sound fans haven’t heard from Carpenter yet. The song begins with bouncy playful beats, crisp high hats and snappy snares, but as the bridge comes in it becomes dreamy. “Go Go Juice,” the ninth track, is a very typical Sabrina song, lyrically. She sings “I’m only drinking to call someone” and “Nobody’s safe when I’m a little bit drunk.” Altogether this song sounds like a country staged Broadway performance, it has a live feel; as we hear Sabrina and others laughing, whispering, and shouting throughout the song. The vocals aren’t completely polished adding to this feeling of watching her sing on stage with her friends it feels spontaneous. “House Tour” portrays typical Sabrina style with her witty storytelling that hides metaphors right under your nose. A 70’s disco pop sound was created through synth-driven instrumentals creating a playful dance atmosphere.
Man’s Best Friend may take a few listens to fully grasp; if you only listen to each song once, you may miss the layers hidden under each track. These songs all work well together to tell a story and is creating excitement to hear them live.
As fans may know, Sabrina likes to continue the story though her music videos along with the release of the album, she released a music video for “Tears”. The album’s story is seemingly not over, as she may have more to say though visuals and cliffhanger that the “Tears” video leaves fans hanging on.
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