Sabrina Carpenter’s new album, “Man’s Best Friend,” proves that her 15 minutes of fame are far from being over.
Carpenter begins the album with the banger of a single, “Manchild.” Within the song, Carpenter sings about a certain archetype of man, the manchild, a guy who is not all there mentally and relies on looks to get by. Carpenter also does some self-reflection, in which she acknowledges her part in choosing to interact with these men: “Oh, I like my boys playing hard to get / And I like my men all incompetent.” However, in true Carpenter fashion, she proclaims in the same verse that the men are the overall problem, singing, “And I swear they choose me, I’m not choosing them.” The upbeat pop-country feel of the song, alongside her witty lyrics, as always, adds to Carpenter’s repertoire of feel-good dance music.
The second single, “Tears,” is probably the weakest of the album. It does have good moments, such as the callback to the “Manchild” lyric of “Said your phone was broken/ Just forgot to charge it” with a response of “Remembering how to use your phone gets me oh so (Oh so), oh so hot.” However, the whole song feels like a way to satirically give a man instructions on how to correctly treat women. It is very on-brand for Carpenter, but it also seems like she might be trying to profit off of people knowing her music as being overly sexual, as she sings in the chorus, “I get wet at the thought of you / Being a responsible guy / Treating me like you’re supposed to do / Tears run down my thighs.”
“My Man On Willpower” might be one of the best songs she’s ever written. It is very reflective of the female experience when facing one of the most common and universal problems in the dating world today: the goal to be nonchalant. Men tend to think that women want a man who doesn’t want them, because they have trained us not to trust their intentions if they are too forward. The soft voice and catchy tune make this song beautiful, but the meaning really makes it one to stick in your head.
The fourth track, “Sugar Talking,” is a sultry criticism of a man who relies on apologies to get out of any real consequences for his repeatedly awful actions. One of Carpenter’s best lyrics is within this hidden gem, “Yeah, your paragraphs mean sh*t to me / It’s verbatim what you said last week.” Carpenter has always been the queen of well-phrased lines, but this one really takes the cake, at least as far as her seventh studio album goes.
The song with the longest title, “We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night,” is a great example of how a toxic relationship continues to survive despite the acknowledgement of the situation being detrimental for everyone involved. A lot of women get criticized for remaining in toxic situations, but Carpenter perfectly encapsulates the feeling of trying to break up but not being able to when she sings, “And when I reach to pull the plug / I swear, it starts working out.” A plain guitar and some of the best vocals she’s ever produced, alongside her carefully crafted words, create mid-album perfection.
As someone who recently went through a breakup, Carpenter’s “Nobody’s Son” is the perfect post-split anthem for all the girls who feel like they’ll never find the right guy. The sentiment that Carpenter presents in her chorus, “Probably should’ve guessed, he’s like the rest, so fine and so deceiving / There’s nobody’s son, not anyone left for me to believe in,” puts that feeling in words in such a beautifully poetic and melodic way.
“Never Getting Laid” is a great representation of trying to hope for the best for someone, but also still deeply hating what they did to you. Here, Carpenter’s witty humor and cheekiness work in harmonious balance within this song. A great lyrical example of this is in the second verse: “Us girls are fun, but stressful, am I right? / And you’ve got a right hand anyway.” These are the Carpenter innuendos that are perfect; ones that you would never guess on first listen, but if you played it on repeat enough, you would notice and chuckle.
The eighth track, “When Did You Get Hot?” is a good listen for when you’re finally ready to get back out on the dating scene. However, Carpenter perfectly curates the tracklist because the ninth track, “Go Go Juice,” is a reflection of being back out in the world but still being broken-hearted. The juxtaposition of these songs is perfectly placed and adds to the ambience of the overall album.
“Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry” is perfect for girls who are entering their “I hate all men” villain era. It showcases a girl treating a man like men usually treat women, stringing them along.
Carpenter brings in some “Nonsense” inspiration with her track, “House Tour.” She sings, “I promise none of this is a metaphor” in the middle of making multiple innuendos in a song that is a metaphor in and of itself.
The final track, “Goodbye,” might be Carpenter’s best song of all time. The whole melody, every note, feels very Abba-esque. “Goodbye means that you’re losing me for life / Can’t call it love then call it quits” and “Can’t have your cake and eat it too / By walking out that means you choose goodbye” are some of my favorite Carpenter lyrics of all time. The song is perfect post-breakup; not too sad, but the perfect mix of emotions. You can laugh over it, you can cry over it and you can get over it by listening to this song.
