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Sabrina Carpenter releases new music: 'Short n’ Sweet' -- her 6th album

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Singer Sabrina Carpenter has had a pretty big year. Two of her singles have hit the Top 10 this summer, including the very catchy "Espresso."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ESPRESSO")

SABRINA CARPENTER: (Singing) Now he's thinking about me every night, oh. Is it that sweet? I guess so. Say you can't sleep? Baby, I know. That's that me espresso. Move it up, down...

MARTÍNEZ: On Friday, Carpenter released a new album, "Short N' Sweet." With us to discuss it is Stephen Thompson from NPR Music. Stephen, for those who don't know Sabrina Carpenter or maybe just know a song or two, tell us her story.

STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: Well, Sabrina Carpenter has blown up this year, but she's been in the public eye for more than a decade. She starred in the Disney Channel series "Girl Meets World." She's acted in movies like "The Hate You Give." This new album, "Short N' Sweet, " is actually her sixth album. So she's been training for stardom for a long time, and she's proven to be extremely versatile. And as an actor, she's done comedy and drama. And I think that's really helped inform her music, especially if you watch the videos she's put out this year. She's got great comic timing and a way of really pulling listeners into what she's saying.

MARTÍNEZ: So give us an example.

THOMPSON: OK. So there's a song on "Short N' Sweet" called "Dumb & Poetic." It's, like, a two-minute song and it lays out a description of a certain kind of bad boyfriend, a guy who takes himself super seriously and is kind of pretentious but also is stupid and ridiculous.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DUMB AND POETIC")

CARPENTER: (Singing) Save all your breath for your floor meditation. You're so empathetic. You'd make a great wife. And I promise the mushrooms aren't changing your life. Will you...

THOMPSON: So save all your breath for your floor meditation.

MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).

THOMPSON: Those eight words managed to fit a lot of very specific resentment. It's mocking and specific, and it does a lot of work in laying out who this guy is and why he's terrible. And what I love about it is - OK, so Taylor Swift put out a record this past spring. It's, like, two hours long, breaking down her relationships with boyfriends who ended up disappointing her. And to me, this song does that same work but in two minutes. It's very efficient and really funny at the same time in, in many cases, lines I cannot always quote on the radio.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. It's short, like Sabrina, right?

THOMPSON: Exactly.

MARTÍNEZ: It's short and sweet, right? There you go.

THOMPSON: Yes.

MARTÍNEZ: Now, OK, she also hit the top of the charts with the song "Please Please Please." Tell us about that song.

THOMPSON: Well, in some ways it's like the prequel to a breakup song, and it fits the themes of the record perfectly. It's essentially a plea to a bad boyfriend, like asking him to be less embarrassing. And in the music video, that boyfriend is played by the Irish actor Barry Keoghan, who's been rumored to be Carpenter's real-life boyfriend. And it's all very clever and meta in the way that it packages this relationship in a way that gets people talking without revealing anything real that she doesn't want to reveal. And everything about it is Sabrina Carpenter in complete control, which is just a joy to behold really throughout "Short N' Sweet."

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And if anyone hasn't seen her new video, the one with Jenna Ortega - "Taste" is what it's called. I mean...

THOMPSON: Yes.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. That one is so over the top but so kind of funny that it's really a fun watch. It's really a fun watch.

THOMPSON: Yeah. If you've ever seen the movie "Death Becomes Her"...

MARTÍNEZ: Yep.

THOMPSON: It's clearly referencing that. It is not for the faint of heart, but it does also showcase her acting chops.

MARTÍNEZ: Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep in that one. Stephen Thompson, thanks a lot.

THOMPSON: Thank you, A.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE")

CARPENTER: (Singing) I know I have good judgment. I know I have good taste. It's funny and it's ironic that only I feel that way. I promise them that you're different. And everyone makes mistakes, but just don't. I heard that you're an actor, so act like a stand-up guy. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)
A Martínez is one of the hosts of Morning Edition and Up First. He came to NPR in 2021 and is based out of NPR West.