After winning the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, Sabrina Carpenter released a deluxe edition of her album “Short n’ Sweet.” The deluxe album features five new songs to partner with the original album.
The original album was already considered a commercial success after having all 12 songs charting on the Billboard Top 100 with three songs reaching the Top 10: “Please Please Please,” “Taste” and “Espresso,” which won a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance.
Carpenter decided to add to the deluxe edition a duet of her song “Please Please Please” with Dolly Parton. It also included four new songs: “15 Minutes,” “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder,” “Busy Woman” and “Bad Reviews.”
After re-listening to the first 12 songs from the original “Short n’ Sweet” album, the Grammy nomination and win makes sense as these songs dominated the airwaves in the early summer months.
The first new song the listener comes to is "15 Minutes.”
This upbeat song fits in perfectly with the vibe from the original album. It is just over three minutes long but flies through this time making it feel shorter than it is.
The fast nature of this song goes great with the message that fame and success are fleeting in the music industry. Carpenter is saying throughout the song how she is going to make the most of her “15 Minutes” of fame.
She ends the song talking about how she might do something crazy to recapture her fame, asking fans not to make her do it because she will. This last minute of the song is fitting, because she mentions doing stuff other celebrities have done to stay relevant in today’s fast-paced culture.
The next song on the deluxe album is “Please Please Please” featuring Dolly Parton. In this version of the song, there is more of a country music feel to it with the acoustic guitar being heard more in this rendition compared to the more synthesized original version.
The song kept its upbeat nature, however, this was to its detriment. Throughout most of this song, Parton’s voice does not seem to mesh well with Carpenter’s.
Parton still has a wonderful singing voice at the age of 79, which is rare as most singers begin to struggle with singing as they age. In this song, Parton seems to struggle to keep up with Carpenter in parts of the song.
Also, throughout this version of the song, Parton is relegated to being a background singer receiving only three verses in the song, where she is the dominant vocalist. This leaves the listener hearing the legendary singer negatively contrasting with the rising singer’s voice.
The reason for the duet on this song is most likely because it was the biggest hit off the album and allowed for the release of a new music video. This is interesting as the original video features Barry Keoghan, who was dating Carpenter at the time.Now that the couple has broken up, it appears Carpenter wants to remove him from the narrative of the song.
The song was originally asking Keoghan to not embarrass Carpenter even though her friends tell her it is a bad idea to date him. With the release featuring Parton, Carpenter seems to be shifting the message to more of an in-general statement to future partners.
While the duet with Parton was not terrible, it feels that she could have been better suited for the other songs from the album. The song “Slim Pickins” comes to mind as it is slowed down and already has a more country feel to it.
Following the duet are more new releases, the first one being, “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder.” This song has a slower tempo compared to the rest of the album.
The song seems to be inspired by “Hopelessly Devoted to You” by Olvia Newton-John with it possibly being an interpolation. Carpenter has sung “Hopelessly Devoted to You” before at an Eras Tour concert in a tribute to Newton-John.
Carpenter sings throughout the song how hard she makes it to love her. She ends with a message about how her partner will want to leave her for someone else who is easier to love.
“Couldn’t Make It Any Harder” offers a break from the usual upbeat nature of the album.
However, the regular tempo of the album resumes with the next song, “Busy Woman.”
Carpenter in this song explains how she does not have time for games when it comes to relationships. If you need her love, she will make time for you, but if you act like you do not want her, she will just move on.
This song repeats the chorus three times, which drives home Carpenter’s message that she will only make time for partners who want her and are willing to make time for her. This seems to be a shot at Keoghan as the two reportedly broke up due to busy schedules.
The final song on the deluxe album is “Bad Reviews.” This is the shortest song of the new releases at just less than two and a half minutes.
Carpenter sings about how she chooses to ignore all the red flags she sees and still be in love. She mentions at the end how she refuses to be wrong again and cannot lose another guy, so she chooses to still be in love.
This final song must be about Keoghan as the two reportedly were off and on again before the final break in December. Even though Carpenter knows things between the two of them have not been the best, she chooses to be in love with him, anyway.
With the original album around 36 minutes long, the deluxe edition is around 50 minutes long with new songs. The album truly is “Short n’ Sweet.”
The deluxe edition was an amazing addition to an already strong album with only a few critiques. If you like pop music and have an hour, give this album a listen.
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