Throughout the lengthy historical past of music, love has been likened to each drug underneath the solar. However on this summer time’s intoxicating breakout hit, Sabrina Carpenter claims to be so irresistible that it pushes her lovers to the sting of insomnia. “Is it that candy? I suppose so,” she coos on “Espresso,” eyelash extensions fluttering innocently. “Say you may’t sleep, child I do know, that’s that me espresso.” Her attract is so piping sizzling that it melts grammar down into one thing deliciously dumb and possibly genius. Atop a breezy nu-disco beat, Carpenter delivers nonsensical, syntax-shredding traces—“Walked in and dream-came-trued it for ya”…“I do know I Mountain Dew it for ya”—with the “yoo-hoo” cheek of a Gen Z Betty Boop.
“Espresso” and its much more profitable follow-up single, “Please Please Please,” launched the 25-year-old Carpenter into a brand new echelon of pop stardom. It has been a very long time coming. She spent her teenage years performing in a spin-off of the sitcom Boy Meets World and she or he launched her first 4 information underneath the Disney umbrella. Like many earlier than her, she ultimately ditched the mouse ears to drop her first “large woman” album, 2022’s Emails I Can’t Ship.
So right here we’re at Carpenter’s sixth album, Quick n’ Candy, a tee-hee title for a 36-minute album by a singer who stands slightly below 5 toes tall. In a pop panorama not too long ago suffering from self-seriousness and a tiresome obsession with authenticity, Quick n’ Candy is a refreshing glass of escapism. Relaxation assured, Carpenter didn’t bunny jump over a weak part—Emails touched on quite a few private experiences together with breakups, parental infidelity, and the fallout from a love triangle involving a sure “driver’s license.” However on Quick n’ Candy, Carpenter is right here for a superb time. As she establishes on the opening observe, “Style”: “Singin’ ’bout it don’t imply I care.”
Throughout 12 tracks, Carpenter performs with some acquainted pop guises. There’s sparkly pop-rock (the semi-sapphic “Style”), Dolly-indebted twang (“Slim Pickins,” “Sharpest Software”), and not less than one throwback R&B steamer (“Good Graces”). Although “Coincidence”’s singalong vibes step somewhat too near the folk-pop campfire, Carpenter largely pulls off these stylistic crossovers due to a big-ass voice that she wields with ease. It additionally helps that she’s backed by a who’s-who of pop songwriters and producers. Quick n’ Candy’s main co-writer is Amy Allen, who has many hits underneath her belt together with 4 No. 1 songs this yr. Different acquainted names embody Julia Michaels, One Course mastermind John Ryan, and Ian Kirkpatrick. Jack Antonoff is right here too—his sparkly synths are unmistakable on the dazzling “Please Please Please.”
