It’s been one year since “Short n’ Sweet” came out, and periodically, Sabrina Carpenter has blessed us with a new album. I’ve been anticipating it since she announced it, wondering whether it would give more of an emotional “Emails I Can’t Send” or summery “Short n’ Sweet” vibe to it.
On Aug. 19, 2025, I started listening to Carpenter’s album, “Man’s Best Friend”, the second I got home from school. Here are reviews of some of the notable tracks off the album.
Manchild
I’ve absolutely adored this song since it first came out as a single. The music video, the upbeat pop vibes, and the hating men message of the song all make this a work of art. Throughout the song, Carpenter delivers sarcastic comments about men’s clothing, stupidity and dependency on women, as if they are children.
The chorus is criminally catchy and unforgettable. I also love the pre-chorus, where it sounds like Carpenter is talking to a man in a baby voice. The bridge of this song has become a popular part to lipsync in TikTok videos, and I like how Carpenter sings in a lower register in this part, contrasting from the higher pitched chorus.
Tears (song and music video)
This song has a generic Carpenter type beat and vibe to it, which one one hand I like, but also feel is repetitive. What was especially creative about this song is that just before the instrumental interlude, Carpenter whispers “Dance break.” This gives the song a lot of potential for TikTok dance trends, which I’m sure will be coming soon.
However, I felt that the song was almost over produced in a sense and basic sounding. It’s almost as if someone was trying to make a Carpenter song, but failed. The lyrics were vulgar, which definitely may be to some people’s liking, but wasn’t mine. It felt like the song was a rip-off of Carpenter’s “Taste,” both song and music video wise.
Carpenter always puts effort into her music videos, making them into a coherent storyline that listeners can follow, which I’ve always loved, but I feel that this music video didn’t fully commit to a storyline. The video gradually grew more PG-13 as it went on and began to lose the plot, with random nonsensical scenes following each other. This may have been intentional, but it felt not thought out and random.
The video was cute, but she’s certainly made a lot better music videos in her career, which felt like a disappointment.
Go Go Juice
This was very much a Carpenter-esque song, with its quick crescendos when she sings the chorus and self-deprecating lyrics.
The chorus’ melody specifically reminded me of the song “Bad Hair Day” by John Phillips. She sings, “I’m just drinking to call someone / Ain’t nobody safe when I’m a little bit drunk / Could be John or Larry, gosh, who’s to say? / Or the one that rhymes with “villain” if I’m feelin’ that way.” In these lyrics, she conveys the message that when she’s drunk, she calls the boys from the past. I noticed that Barry Keoghan, her most recent ex, has a name that rhymes with “villain” just as she states in the song.
I find this to be the catchiest song on the album, and probably my favorite after my first listen.
This album was another classic spunky yet cute Sabrina work. However, I don’t think it topped “Short n’ Sweet” or “Emails I Can’t Send” in the slightest. Maybe I need to take some time to let the songs grow on me, but I can’t find any of these songs beating the quirkiness of “Short n’ Sweet” or the vulnerability of “Emails I Can’t Send”.
Nonetheless, I’ll definitely be adding most of these songs to my playlist, and attending a “Man’s Best Friend” tour if I’m lucky enough to get tickets.
