Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
Continuing with her sexually-charged era of music-making, Sabrina Carpenter’s latest record is a polarising piece that almost acts like a manual for men on how to treat women right. It’s similar to Short n’ Sweet sonically and thematically, except a little less sexually flamboyant and a lot more condescending. It’s an expansion of the Please Please Please dynamic that explores men’s inability to meet her standards and her never-ending disappointment. Still, the album isn’t wholly vindictive, with sprinkles of Carpenter’s vulnerability embedded throughout.
Manchild opens, setting a precedent for this ironic and patronising tone that’s to come, warning viewers that, despite the title Man’s Best Friend, this most recent entry into her discography does not hold back in asserting her expectations for the people she dates and expressing her frustration with lacklustre performances within the relationship. Her delivery in the verses has a baby-talk effect, as if speaking mockingly to a child.
My Man on Willpower is a highlight, featuring an interesting dissection of the early parts of a blossoming relationship – the “chase” and honeymoon period – and the sudden 180 after that sees her lover slipping away. The production here introduces 1980s rock to the soundtrack that complements her signature disco pop. Sugar Talking, which follows after, is a slow and soulful entry, yet it remains every bit as charming in its witty lyricism. Carpenter criticises men who are all talk, the kind who claim maturity but have nothing to show for it. She says these men are spewing “epiphanies” and talking “big words for a real small mind”. The delivery here is less forceful and teasing than that of Manchild and Tears. It’s instead more daring in nature, as if she’s challenging them to prove her wrong.
The trio of songs, We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night, Nobody’s Son and Never Getting Laid, exhibit a delicate side to Carpenter. They’re slower in nature, featuring more acoustics and a dream-like production. We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night tells the toxic cycle of being constantly on the edge of breaking up and making up. She details this desperation of holding onto something despite knowing it’s bad for her. Nobody’s Son, in turn, marvels at the mess she becomes after a break-up, while Never Getting Laid unleashes all the bitterness and spite at the prospect of her former lover moving on to another.
Carpenter ends this album with Goodbye, which is a culmination of the 11 tracks that came before. It seeks to resolve the heartbreak and frustration felt in songs like My Man on Willpower, Nobody’s Son, and Never Getting Laid. But of course, not without a signature reminder that the subject will regret letting Carpenter go. Despite the disguised resentment in Never Getting Laid with lines like “Baby, I’m not angry / Love you just the same / I just hope you get agoraphobia someday,” she finishes Goodbye with “Get home safe”, effectively closing this chapter of her life. She has found acceptance and affirmatively ends this record on a more positive and considerate note.
While Man’s Best Friend doesn’t have the same kinetic impact and flair as Short n’ Sweet, it’s a decent extension of the previous record. The selection of hymns is less sexually indulgent, and Carpenter is more openly vulnerable. While not every track hits the mark, and the second half of the playlist isn’t nearly as enticing as that of the first six songs, the strong entries carry Man’s Best Friend into mischievous brilliance.
Mae Trumata
Image: Courtesy of Sabrina Carpenter
Man’s Best Friend is released on 29th August 2025. For further information or to order the album, visit Sabrina Carpenter’s website here.
Watch the video for Manchild here:
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