Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet (deluxe) album review
- Album composition
The album has five additional tracks, starting from "15 Minutes" which Carpenter co-wrote with Julian Bunetta and Amy Allen. Then it's the country version of "Please Please Please" which Carpenter and Jack Antonoff co-wrote, with Parton also contributed in songwriting. Followed by its 15th track "Couldn't Make it Any Better" written by Carpenter, Allen and Bunetta is a b-side of "Don't Smile". "Busy Woman" already included as bonus track on limited edition Short n' Sweet(er), while the final track "Bad Reviews" depicts Carpenter's other side of her astonishing career so far. Overall, the bonus tracks of this deluxe Short n' Sweet are the country-influenced and slightly Parton-esque and also a bit of Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift's country materials as well.
- Comparison to previous albums
Carpenter's debut album Eyes Wide Open (2015) uses some power-pop rock, folk-pop and country-pop genres while from Evolution (2016), Singular (2018 and 2019) to Emails I Can't Send (2022) and its deluxe FWD: version (2023) she used the dance-pop, hip-hop and R&B materials. As for Short n' Sweet and its deluxe version, she combined some dance-pop and more country-pop elements. For example: Carpenter explained that "Can't Blame A Girl For Trying" (2014) perfectly describes a thirteen year-old girl and a teenage girl; while "Espresso" and "Busy Woman" (2024) fit for a twenty five year-old young woman.
- Singles
The deluxe edition's promotional single "Busy Woman" is three minutes and six seconds long. Carpenter wrote the song with Amy Allen and its producer, Jack Antonoff. It was recorded at Sharp Sonics Studios in Los Angeles and Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Antonoff plays percussion, bass, synthesizer, sitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drumkit, and drum programming; Carpenter plays percussion; and Bobby Hawk plays violin. Antonoff, Jack Manning, Laura Sisk, and Oli Jacobs engineered "Busy Woman" with assistance from Joey Miller and Jozef Caldwell; Ruairi O'Flaherty mastered the song, and Serban Ghenea mixed it with assistance from Bryce Bordone. The song is a disco-influenced pop, synth-pop, country, and yacht rock track.
In "Busy Woman" compared to her past singles "Can't Blame A Girl for Trying", "The Middle of Starting Over", "Smoke and Fire", "Pushing 20", "Nonsense", "Feather", "Espresso", "Please Please Please", "Bed Chem" and "Slim Pickins", Carpenter humorously addresses the challenges she faces with rejection. The song starts with her admitting that, despite usually being calm and rational, she loses all composure when turned down. In the first verse, she sings about how rejection feels immoral to her and how it can make her react in an exaggerated and dramatic way. She emphasizes that if the subject is interested in her, she will be the ideal partner and be willing to go above and beyond. In case the feelings are not reciprocated, she will casually brush it off and act indifferent as she is too busy for anything less than what she deserves.
In the chorus, Carpenter expresses how she will make herself available if someone wants her, but if not, she would be completely fine and not interested anymore. She sings about being able to turn her attention elsewhere. In the second verse, Carpenter continues to mock her own flexibility in relationships, offering to adapt to her partner's needs but also jokingly claiming she will dismiss someone as "gay" if they are not attracted to her: "Tantric yoga, baby, namaste / If you don't want me, I'll just deem you gay."
Dolly and me singing in a pickup truck!!!!!!
— Sabrina Carpenter (@SabrinaAnnLynn) February 14, 2025
I am so honored to have one of my biggest idols on a song that means so much to me.
Short n’ Sweet deluxe is out now!
Go watch and listen!!!!
Love you forever @DollyParton 🤍🦋 https://t.co/GtHMSeM3PJ pic.twitter.com/HSPZPmEeoU
Turns out, two things can be short and sweet 😉 Listen to “Please Please Please (feat. Dolly Parton)” everywhere now! ❤️ @SabrinaAnnLynn https://t.co/BMQ3TBpB15 pic.twitter.com/h8kdsNKlrV
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) February 14, 2025
- Track listing (all songs co-written by Sabrina Carpenter; bold indicates album's lead singles and title tracks, italic indicates promotional singles)
1. Taste
2. Please Please Please
3. Good Graces
4. Sharpest Tool
5. Coincidence
6. Bed Chem
7. Espresso
8. Dumb & Poetic
9. Slim Pickins
10. Juno
11. Lie To Girls
12. Don't Smile
13. 15 Minutes
14. Please Please Please (country version) (with Dolly Parton)
15. Couldn't Make It Any Better
16. Busy Woman
17. Bad Reviews
Get yours here!
