Sabrina Carpenter has consistently both received high praise and been in the middle of controversies. After the end of her Short and Sweet tour, she has added to her discography that has been building since she was only 15 years old with the release of “Man’s Best Friend.” Her seventh studio album, “Man’s Best Friend,” was released on Aug. 29.
The album consists of 12 songs accumulating to a total listening time of 38 minutes. This album is a bit of a change from her previous albums but still holds true to her overall style of exploring the complex feelings of a relationship.
Prior to the release of this album, the cover art received some backlash on social media from both fans and non-fans. The album cover depicts Carpenter, in a short black dress and heels, on her knees, looking at the audience while a faceless man, mostly out of frame, in a suit, is holding onto a piece of her hair. Many viewed this cover as demeaning to women and antifeminist, particularly being paired with the associations of “man’s best friend” referring to a dog.
Overall, the 12 songs have a similar upbeat, fun backtrack building the feel of the album. On top of the synth drum beats and unique instrumental backtrack, the lyrics add vulnerability in some songs and a catchy, positive message to others. For example, in “We Almost Broke Up Last Night,” producer Jack Antonoff includes a fun beat with drums, piano and voice layovers that seem like they would undermine the sad lyrics. However, this song paints the ups and downs of a relationship.
Carpenter’s album has also become extremely popular on social media, becoming the backtrack for Tik Tok and Instagram videos. The lead single “Manchild” became the blueprint for the success of the majority of the songs on this album. Released on June 5, two months before the album’s debut on Aug. 29, “Manchild” was quickly paired with a catchy, simple Tik Tok dance.
Aside from the music on this album being very well produced, Carpenter has a talent for creating engaging music videos that tell the story of a song. Carpenter currently has two accompanying music videos with this album. One with “Manchild” and one with “Tears,” further adding to the fun vibe of this album and distinguishing Carpenter’s creativity within the pop genre.
“Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry” is one of the slower, more calm songs on this album. This song feels reminiscent of Carpenter’s very own “Short n’ Sweet” track, “Don’t Smile.” Both feature softer melodies and instrumental components and a slower pace than their more pop, upbeat counterparts.
Lastly, the album’s closing track “Goodbye” is the perfect closing to the album serving as both a symbolic ending of the relationship the album follows but also the literal end of the album. This song carries bright lyrics and musical components that are vaguely resemblant of hits from Swedish pop band, ABBA.
Sabrina Carpenter continues to bring her own unique and witty flair to the music industry that she is known for with “Man’s Best Friend.” Coming off of her 2024 hit album, “Short n’ Sweet” Carpenter is now diving into the success of her 2025 album. Overall, this album contains a fun mix of upbeat dance-along songs to slower and calm songs with shockingly raw lyrics, creating a fun listening experience.
