Carpenter builds rickety follow up to ‘Sweet’ with ‘friendly’ cash cow

Sabrina Carpenter’s seventh studio album, Man’s Best Friend, has entranced listeners through its synthful and charming, albeit repetitive, sounds. Met with healthy doses of alternating criticism and praise, the record has managed to triumph as one of the most successful pop releases of the 2020’s. 

photo from Sabrina Carpenter's Facebook

Despite a rocky rollout process regarding the album’s controversial cover, Man’s Best Friend followed in predecessor Short N’ Sweet’s footsteps, debuting at No. 1, with 362,000 units sold and 160,000 in vinyl alone throughout its first week on the charts. Friend rockets Sabrina into an elite group of pop stars, including Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and SZA. Charting 12 songs in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, all of the album’s tracks found immense popularity.

Much of the album’s production was masterminded by the lauded Jack Antonoff, most famous for helping pen Swift’s more commemorated work. Antonoff brings his signature 80s-esque retro synths, which fit perfectly with Carpenter’s vocals. The record’s production also returns Short N’ Sweet’s John Ryan, a notorious pop songwriter and producer who has assisted on work from Maroon 5 and One Direction. Antonoff and Ryan reinforce country vibes, which Carpenter has brought in spades in the past with especially reedy synths along with campy instrumental acoustics, even including a banjo which Carpenter admitted to enjoying playing herself. 

The first song and lead single on the album, “Manchild,” debuted back in June at No. 1 and bounced back to No. 3 following the album’s full release. “Manchild” serves as a spiritual successor to Carpenter’s “Song of the Summer” hit, “Espresso”, with its cheeky lyrics and catchy, twangy sounds. 

However, whereas Short N’ Sweet featured eponymously short and sweet relationships without much depth, on Friend Sabrina laments relationships when they bridge into the long term. “Manchild” sets the tone for the whole album, as Sabrina complains about a man lacking emotional depth and intelligence, one who can’t seem to check even the most basic boxes. 

Additionally, in Short N’ Sweet, Carpenter seemed to enjoy being in the driver’s seat in relationships. Throughout “Espresso,” she reiterates that “he looks so cute wrapped ‘round my finger” and, in “Good Graces” she takes charge about her significant other’s reputation. But in Man’s Best Friend, Carpenter turns the dynamic around, emphasizing that she doesn’t want to take the role of a man’s mother. 

Following “Manchild” this becomes especially clear in the second breakout song of the album “Tears,” which hit No. 1 when the album dropped and was one of two songs to receive the music video treatment. In “Tears,” Carpenter makes explicit references to being attracted less by a boy’s physical appearance and more by how responsible he is. One of the least vulgar examples of this is in the line, “Offering to do anything,  I′m like (oh my God),” where Sabrina sets the impressively low bar to getting her interested.

Following immediately, and somewhat contradictingly after, are “My Man on Willpower” and “Sugar Talking.” In these songs, the singer explores two very different dynamics. The former features her having to practically beg her partner to sleep with her, while the latter sees her rejecting the very same advances and getting frustrated as her partner begs her. While both situations are portrayed realistically, featuring them back to back, leaves the message of the album feeling jumbled. This is only reinforced by the relatively lackluster instrumentals on “My Man on Willpower,” which sounds more like a leftover from Short N’ Sweet with a wacky synth intro haphazardly thrown in to tie it back. 

The theme, however, is quickly brought back on “We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night,” which explores the all too common drift caused by constant fighting in a relationship. This often seems to lead to a near break up. The song helps to explain why Carpenter continues to stay with such terrible men, as she finds herself on an emotional rollercoaster that she can’t seem to get off. Many find themselves in this toxic trap, not wanting to stay in a relationship, but feeling too lonely without one. 

Somewhat unfortunately, “Nobody’s Son” harkens back to “My Man on Willpower,” where Carpenter belts about a man leaving her behind so she can grow emotionally. It leaves the listener questioning whether Sabrina, or the “half-brained” men are the ones responsible for all these failed relationships, a question that perhaps she is entirely aware of. Despite its perplexing message, “Nobody’s Son” delivers an all-together more cohesive listening experience instrumentally, along with some typically fantastic singing from Carpenter. 

Spiking search results for “agoraphobia” following the album’s release, on “Never Getting Laid” Carpenter wishes a partner a peaceful and happy life without her. The only caveat is that she wishes upon him a life without intimacy and going outside. On “When Did You Get Hot?” and “Go Go Juice,” she tells the story of how she ends up in these relationships. being solely attracted to a guy physically then sleeping with him after she gets drunk. Individually, “Go Go Juice” is a standout of the album, featuring charming, folky, honky tonk instrumentals and vocals Sabrina’s self proclaimed idol Dolly Parton would be proud of. 

Finalizing the record: “Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry,” “House Tour,” and “Goodbye” make up some of the more forgettable tracks. On “Don’t Worry,” Carpenter vocalizes about running circles around her boyfriend. Once again, this song feels more appropriate with the theme of Short N’ Sweet and feels more like a throwaway to extend the album than anything. On “House Tour” Sabrina pushes her silly, risque lyrics to the max, writing about a pretty house made just for her man, with every element of it representing a part of her. Finally, on “Goodbye” Carpenter fittingly sings about bidding farewell to her partner, she reinforces it in several languages, singing “Te Amo” and “Adios” as she lets her man know that he won’t see her ever again. 

Overall, Man’s Best Friend serves as a satisfactory sequel to Short N’ Sweet where Sabrina Carpenter explores a variety of relationship dynamics and even plays with some under-represented parts of modern sex and relationship discourse. However, the album’s inconsistent messaging, and sometimes phoned-in production leaves the album feeling a little bloated, with songs that quickly get repetitive despite Carpenter’s vocal performances. 

by Isaac Considine-Buelow

Published October 6, 2025

Oshkosh West Index Volume 122 Issue I