Megan Brownell social media editor
Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth studio album hit streaming platforms on Aug. 23, 2024. Fans anticipated the album all summer after Carpenter announced the 12-track album on June 3. Though it is still early for the billboard charts, the album is expected to place well on both the Hot 100 and 200 after it was her biggest debut yet with over 57 million streams in the first day.
Carpenter kicked off her new era with the release of her first single “Espresso.” The song quickly shot up on the charts and became one of the songs of the summer on social media. The song peaked at number three on the billboard hot 100 chart but became extremely popular on Tik Tok and other social media platforms. I personally love the song. It’s fun, it’s different, and people are calling it pop perfection. A trend even started going around on Twitter (X) about different artists that had great songs that didn’t peak like fans had hoped, so they would say “this song should have been their Espresso.”
The next single to kick off the era was “Please Please Please.” Paired with a music video, the song shot up in popularity as well, dethroning herself on multiple charts battling with “Espresso.” This track did hit number one on the billboard hot 100, after debuting as number two. This song also had some trends come out of it, with almost everyone singing the catchy tune.
Both singles brought up who Carpenter was singing about. With her newer-at-the-time relationship with actor Barry Keogan, all eyes went on him. “Espresso” sings about how she’s like a cup of espresso—energizing—while also saying he can’t sleep because she’s like espresso.
“Please Please Please” takes a little more of a different turn. Barry has a past, and while I don’t know much about it, the song points to a little. A popular lyric from the song is “I beg you don’t embarrass me.” This is partially what the song is about, as she is asking him to please not mess this up, like she knows about things he’s done before and hoping that he is changed and doesn’t go back to those ways. He was even featured in the music video, which fans absolutely loved.
Though these songs are about her current relationship, many songs on the album refer to past relationships or more breakup songs. This has led fans to speculate who these breakup songs are about, throwing out names like Shawn Mendas, as well as all the way back to Joshua Bassett in 2021.
Moving on to the album, I love it. I haven’t always listened to Carpenter, but after friends and family recommended her last album, I decided this would be the one I tune in for. I am happy I did. It was short, for sure, but all songs are a good listen, and I don’t have any skips. My favorite track would have to be track one, “Taste.” Although this song is also a single, it was not pre-released. Paired with a music video as well, it is a catchy song that already seems to be growing in popularity on social media despite being under a week since its release. The song seems to hint back to an ex-boyfriend of hers, with lyrics about how he is back together with one of his ex’s, and how this girl will still have a taste of her now that they are back together.
Overall, I am giving this album a 9/10, with Carpenter showing 12 great tracks of music. She has grown a lot since being an opener for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. With an album as great as this one, I am excited to see her gain more popularity so people all over the world can see her great talent.