“Oh boy!” Sabrina Carpenter chuckles on the prime of “Manchild,” the lead single of her new album Man’s Greatest Pal. It’s a delicate however direct preview of this mission’s focus: a camp-fueled takedown of incompetent males. It’s not a far-fetched or surprising matter, as Carpenter’s final album, Quick n’ Candy, noticed the pop star skewering the alternative intercourse for funsies. “Amen; hey, males!” Carpenter sings all through “Manchild,” humoring her goal as she deliberates on the way to correctly puncture egos.
For anybody who performed Quick n’ Candy into the bottom, Man’s Greatest Pal might be a welcome listening expertise. Sabrina Carpenter is witty, charming, and selectively susceptible, as regular — and she or he’s backed by her anticipated companions in crime: Amy Allen and Jack Antonoff, alongside One Route mastermind John Ryan. Along with her crew in place, Carpenter continues her aversion to 1 sound, skillfully accumulating the gems of various eras and genres and shining them up for 2025.
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The place Quick n’ Candy noticed Carpenter breaking free from the middling pop subject, Man’s Greatest Pal is the singer’s alternative to immerse absolutely within the sound and magnificence she’s cultivated after discovering herself throughout six albums. On her seventh, at 26 years outdated, Carpenter is establishing herself because the pop supernova of the second. On the night time of the album’s launch, she dropped her second single, “Tears.” Not like the countrified lead single “Manchild,” “Tears” is fueled by lustful disco. The Bee Gees come to thoughts as Carpenter coos, “I get moist on the considered you,” fantasizing concerning the object of her affection. She’s by no means shied away from expressing her frank sexuality, and this album isn’t any completely different.
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Carpenter’s wholesome libido precedes her. Throughout her look on NPR’s Tiny Desk final December, Carpenter acknowledged the chatter. “Some folks know me for, I suppose, being explicitly sexy,” she stated to a room full of snickers. “It’s really not as simple as that.” The album cowl of Man’s Greatest Pal options Sabrina on her palms and knees, a male determine standing above her with a fistful of hair, resembling a canine proprietor holding a leash. Regardless of Carpenter’s very intentional presentation as a girlie pop who champions autonomy and feminine empowerment, the backlash was swift. Thank God she doesn’t give a fuck.
Alongside her core unit of songwriters and producers, Carpenter has discovered a technique to make even essentially the most inappropriate matters sound like sing-a-longs. “Home Tour” takes on a number of influences, from the New Jack Swing popularized by Janet Jackson to the funk-driven R&B of the Mary Jane Ladies. The track is inexplicit, however the content material of the lyrics screams NSFW: “Would you like the home tour?/ I may take you to the primary, second, third ground/ And I promise none of it is a metaphor/ I simply need you to come back inside.”
Man’s Greatest Pal capabilities as a range present on wax. The bouncy, inquisitive “My Man on Willpower” paints a vivid image of Carpenter comically trying to get her beau’s consideration: “He’s busy, he’s working, he doesn’t have time for me/ My slutty pajamas not tempting him within the least/ What within the fucked-up romantic, darkish comedy is that this nightmare these days?” On the alternative finish of the spectrum, Carpenter’s “By no means Getting Laid,” which sounds soulful sufficient for Bobby Caldwell, takes a dagger to the center of an inconsistent accomplice who she needs a lifetime of involuntary celibacy. Each of those vignettes are illustrative, evocative renderings that sound like watching a kooky Carol Burnett routine unfold in actual time.