Sabrina Carpenter has never sounded more in command than she does on her seventh studio album, “Man’s Best Friend.” The tight 12-track album was released on Aug. 29 via Island Records.
Coming barely a year after her sixth studio album, “Short n’ Sweet,” “Man’s Best Friend” further establishes Carpenter as a main pop performer. The album’s rollout came with controversy, as some fans critiqued the album cover and concept as being misogynistic and promoting traditional gender stereotypes, as “man’s best friend” is a common phrase used to refer to a dog. Carpenter, in her signature tongue-in-cheek fashion, released an alternate “approved by God” album cover in response to those who found the original too risqué.
The album combines Carpenter’s signature pop with influences from country music, disco and retro synth that producer Jack Antonoff is an expert on. With this sonic background laying the foundation, her signature snark is on full display in her tunes.
“Manchild”
“Oh boy!” is how Sabrina Carpenter kicks off “Man’s Best Friend.” “Manchild” is a glittery takedown of immaturity and eyeroll moments into perfect pop punchlines. She throws shade with lines like “You said your phone was broken / Just forgot to charge it” and “Whole outfit you’re wearing, God, I hope it’s ironic.” The lyrics sting because they’re so familiar.
Her delivery of the chorus is sly and playful but with just enough bite to leave a mark. “Man-child / Why you always come a-running to me? / F— my life / Won’t you let an innocent woman be?” With glossy production, a cheeky intro and a music video packed with cinematic flair, “Manchild” sets the tone for an album that makes frustration sound irresistible.
“Tears”
Carpenter isn’t crying over a man; rather, she is fantasizing over him doing the bare minimum as a responsible partner (a fantasy indeed). “I get wet at the thought of you / being a responsible guy” sings Carpenter, carrying on the sarcastic disdain of incompetence that is a heavy theme in “Manchild” and throughout the entire album. Men, do the bare minimum, and you just might cause your partner to cry tears of happiness; I can’t say from where (but Sabrina Carpenter sure can).
The music video, which dropped at the same time as the album, features a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” style mixed of camp and horror themes, with Carpenter proving that she’d make a wonderful scream queen. And of course, is it truly a Sabrina Carpenter music video if someone doesn’t die?
“My Man on Willpower”
Carpenter drifts into dreamy, breathy pop to capture the sting of neglect on “My Man on Willpower.” Once obsessed with her every move, her lover now hides behind restraint — “I’m suddenly the least sought-after girl in the land.” The song sways between humor and hurt, as Sabrina is half-grieving the 180 switch-up. She longs to “return it, get back the version I like,” exposing how foreign this newfound self-control feels in the ruins of desire.
By the outro, “Where he’s gone, God only knows,” the song leaves its breathless haze unresolved, perfectly mirroring the emptiness of a passion gone cold.
“Sugar Talking”
Sabrina Carpenter has no time for flowery apologies and pleading paragraphs in this song. She’s asking for her lover to “put your loving where your mouth is” and quit the “sugar talking” that’s trapping her into some classic love-bombing with no real delivery. She’s done with empty promises and extravagant gifts that come with no real connection. She sings, “Save your money and stop making me cry.”
“We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night”
This song is for all of the dysfunctional relationships that are just barely held together by pure spite and the hope of improvement. At what point should you just call it quits? Carpenter struggles to find the breaking point, singing, “And when I reach to pull the plug / I swear, it starts working out.”
“Nobody’s Son”
On track six, Carpenter trades her smirk for sorrow, delivering one of the album’s rawest moments. “Here we go again, crying in bed, what a familiar feeling / All my friends in love, and I’m the one they call for a third wheeling.” The song feels like a diary entry, pulling listeners into the loneliness of failed love.
The chorus swells with resignation, “There’s nobody’s son, not anyone left for me to believe in.” Carpenter also calls out “boy moms” who coddle sons into carelessness; she shifts heartbreak into critique, demanding men be raised to do better. She’s tender, yet furious, as she reframes heartbreak in one of the most cutting hits on the album.
“Never Getting Laid”
Carpenter’s wicked humor peaks on “Never Getting Laid,” a track that makes spite sound sweet. She frames the aftermath of manipulation with mock serenity, “Baby, I’m not angry / Love you just the same / I just hope you get agoraphobia someday.”
Her verses poke fun at masculinity’s clichés — “Call up the boys and crack a Miller Lite, watch the fight” — before twisting the knife with a bimbo fantasy: “Any given night / You could be using your lips / On a girl with big tits / Boy, I know where you live.” By the dreamy outro, Carpenter again turns heartbreak into a singalong hex, balancing venom with melody.
“When Did You Get Hot?”
Whether a classmate over the summer or a high school friend, we all know someone who had an insane glow-up since we saw them last. Such is the subject of “When Did You Get Hot?” with Carpenter realizing she wants someone from her past to be in her present.
“Sorry I did not see the vision / Thank the Lord, the fine you has risen” sings Carpenter as she rues not being ahead of the game and realizing a guy’s potential before now.
“Go Go Juice”
With a sound and lyricism reminiscent of a classic country heartbreak song, Carpenter delivers a fun-filled, slightly self-destructive story of the post-heartbreak bender that is common in this genre. Her “go go juice” is her “get over him juice,” and the momentary relief makes the worse-than-heartbreak hangover worth it.
The track has an upbeat, bouncy melody that makes you overlook the lyrics full of heartbreak and bitterness. After all, as Carpenter sings, “Some good old-fashioned fun sure numbs the pain.”
“Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry”
Carpenter softens her delivery to something almost lullaby-like, but the words cut sharply. She toys with power, promising “So don’t worry / I’ll make you worry like no other girl can.” It’s a track about control, where love doubles as leverage.
Her sly humor slips in while the chorus seals her self-awareness: “The emotional lottery is all you’ll ever get with me.” Carpenter knows her worth, and she knows the weight of withholding it. The result is equal parts sultry and threatening, a reminder not to get too comfortable because the game is hers to play.
“House Tour”
If there’s anyone who can make a hypersexual song evade an explicit tag, it’s Carpenter and her clever lyricism. Similar to her use of double entendres in “Bed Chem” on her previous album, Carpenter uses the metaphor of a house for this track (despite singing “I promise none of this is a metaphor”).
In this song, Carpenter is giving her new lover a tour of her… house. Definitely nothing else. “I’m just so proud of my design,” she sings, which could only of course refer to interior decoration and furnishings. She just wants the addressee of this song to “come inside / but never through the back door.”
“Goodbye”
At the end of “Man’s Best Friend,” Carpenter finally gives us closure from the wild ride through the previous 11 tracks. This song is a realization that saying “Goodbye” and truly meaning it are the only ways to truly move on. Even if an ex comes crawling back to her, Carpenter stands her ground, singing “Goodbye means that you’re losing me for life.”
“Man’s Best Friend,” as Carpenter puts it on her Instagram, is a project she made “out of pure inspiration and zero pressure.” It shows in the music; this album is, above all else, simply fun to listen to, dance to and scream in your car every time your past situationship pops back into your head.
In regard to the rampant internet claims that Sabrina Carpenter is “setting back feminism”, the album puts such fears to rest in its sarcasm and snark. Carpenter isn’t one to take herself too seriously; in the same post, she described the album as “laughing at yourself and your poor choices as everything is falling apart.” She puts her signature wit to good use in her sharp, clever lyricism that critiques gender roles without outright saying so.
In a society that has never been completely comfortable with a woman expressing her sexuality in such a mainstream way, Carpenter has no fear singing explicitly about her body, relationships and experiences in a way that becomes refreshing once you move past how shocking it can be. Carpenter’s rated-R lyrics wrapped in her bubblegum pop sound may not be for everyone, but she creates what she wants and has fun with it, no matter what any critic or “Manchild” may think.
