Sabrina Carpenter - Man’s Best Friend

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/6849ad1f49a1226d2a213329/master/w_1600,c_limit/Sabrina-Carpenter.jpeg

No track listing yet.

Out on August 29, 2025.

Full Video of "Manchild"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSugSGCC12I

what in the Terry Richardson is going on

I know this is designed to rile up people and be antangonistically pandering to the male gaze etc but it really is such a choice in 2025, when womens' rights are being eroded everywhere, to present yourself this way

incredible video.

I'm warming up to "Manchild" but doesn't touch any of the singles from the last album. Love the video too.

xp to boxedjoy

found some of the replies here re that interesting:
https://bsky.app/profile/popbase.tv/post/3lrdrzvjkck2m

Would be cool if that cover was a scene in the Spinal Tap sequel. "That's 'Smell the Glove' all over!"

"manchild" is good but why near the end does it try so hard to build to some unearned moment that doesn't quite arrive

https://variety.com/2025/music/news/sabrina-carpenter-defends-album-release-sex-at-shows-1236429344/

“If I really wanted to, I could have stretched out ‘Short n’ Sweet’ much, much longer,” Carpenter said. “But I’m at that point in my life where I’m like, ‘Wait a second, there’s no rules.’ If I’m inspired to write and make something new, I would rather do that. Why would I wait three years just for the sake of waiting three years? It’s all about what feels right. I’m learning to listen to that a lot more, instead of what is perceived as the right or wrong move.

“Not to be dramatic, but what can I do while my legs still work? I’m limber, let’s use it,” she added later about her career hustle. “My brain is sharp, let’s write. I try not to get sad about the fact that nothing lasts forever, but genuinely, it’s such a beautiful time right now. I want to soak it up and keep making things while I’m feeling this way.”

Carpenter also noted that many of her music icons, from Dolly Parton to Linda Ronstadt, would “release a 10-song album every year,” adding: “I’m like, ‘When did we stop doing that?’ Writers write, they make music, and they release music. I understand the beauty of disappearing. My last two albums both took two and a half years to make, and they needed to. I just think every project is different. It just has to feel right.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lohBpGkiGr4

From her Lollapalooza set on Sunday, she brought out Earth, Wind and Fire.

It leaked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9vuCByb6js

the aesthetic of this album feels a bit more focused, not as delightfully varied as short n sweet, but she's very good at the country-pop sound that seems to be her default lane. and i remain impressed by the sophistication of her songwriting; there are chord progressions and arrangements that feel like '70s am gold at times. on first listen, i am gravitating to the more uptempo disco-fied tunes, esp. "tears," which i am glad to see is the second single. but i could see other songs growing on me.

My response exactly so far.

The new video is great, seems to be a tribute to Roxy Horror Picture Show and the ending is so on brand!

Haven't had a chance to dive in yet but will later today. We need a huge, great pop record for end of summer 2025 and hopefully this delivers.

"House Tour" is...what, indebted to "Opposites Attract"?

"Goodbye" is so ABBA, I love it.

She is really really funny… this thing is almost a novelty record for how often she sets up and executes expertly written funny shit…

jeez these music videos.... i'm not a regular video watcher these days but these are pretty next-level, yeah?

They're great aren't they? She takes the visual at form vary seriously, not sure if anyone else is better.

The way she breathily deadpans smut like "I get wet at the thought of you" is her superpower imo

no interesting thoughts yet but AOTY

The is wonderful!

not sure i’m really loving this. it probably “holds together better as an album” than short n sweet but there’s not many if any songs i’d put up there with bed chem, good graces, slim pickins, please please etc. the songwriting doesn’t feel as punchy to me, the melodies get a little pastoral too often. “when did you get hot?” is when this album really wakes up for me. it’s a prettier album production wise but i’m not sure that’s really what suits her. i like when she is doing witty country songs a la ‘same trailer different park,’ i’m less enthused when this album starts to sound like ‘golden hour.’ i like “house tour” a lot. it’s still gonna be one of the best mainstream pop albums of the year because she has such a singular lyrical style and ability to sell punchlines, but i miss a little bit of short n sweet’s kitsch

decent album but not as good as the last 2 -- Julian Bunetta produced some of my favorite songs on those albums and he's conspicuously absent here

"When Did You Get Hot" deserves a tempo to match that delicious otm title.

i think that computerized mid tempo funk suits it well, that song sounds like it could be on early britney albums

I think I get the cover now, it's not submissive. I could be totally off and it's so early but she has a bit of bitterness on here. Men are sometimes treating her like a dog...

Every song does seem to be about sex. God bless her.

« Don’t worry » reminded me so much of Cocteau Twins « Rilkean heart » that I had to check if they were credited !

Is it about Jeff Buckley as well?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFNHKB_qoDc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_v89buOKT4

Blue Nile, Stereolab ... Sabrina and crew going deep/hip!

Was not expecting her to shout out Rush’s “The Trees.”

Now that I've spent some time with this, I think it’s good but not great. It doesn't have the same joy as the last one. It's too mellow and doesn't have enough hooks, oh well.

Liking it more as an album than the last one. It takes her stuff a little while to grow on me.

House Tour is my fave but that chorus was really needs a third go round at the end of the song

It pairs well with Frazier Chorus’s “Dream Kitchen”

you know, i like "tears" a lot. i think that stands up to the singles off short n sweet pretty comfortably, i think after all the controversy over the cover and everything there is something actually subversive about an ebullient disco pop song being devoted to the emotion of being proud of a man for clearing the lowest bar of relationship duties. i think it works a lot better than "manchild" in that capacity. continue to really enjoy "when did you get hot?" but listened to "sugar talking" yesterday and it's representative of songs on this album that i feel like hit all their marks in trying to come off as more serious music making but ultimately leave me kinda cold

i don't find the new album as musically playful as the preceding album (though to put my cards on the table, i'd say the same thing of "Espresso" [where i liked the lyrics but not particularly the song) - but then, Short N Sweet was one of the most musically playful pop albums of recent memory...

but i think what i find most annoying about the new one is the way the double-entendres sink all the way into almost edgelord level. it feels tiresome in its heavy-breathing innuendo: instead of the occasional zing, it's as if whole songs were designed just to troll parents or around the premise of a sorta dirty joke. i find it irritating and (for sabrina) sort of embarrassing.

ha ha yeah I was picking up takeout at a restaurant full of kids and "I Get Wet" was blasting from the speakers.

what i find most annoying about the new one is the way the double-entendres sink all the way into almost edgelord level. it feels tiresome in its heavy-breathing innuendo: instead of the occasional zing, it's as if whole songs were designed just to troll parents or around the premise of a sorta dirty joke. i find it irritating and (for sabrina) sort of embarrassing.

― sean gramophone, Monday, September 22, 2025 4:10 PM (seventeen minutes ago)

i think this is a little uncharitable but i get what you're saying... like the way the second verse of "manchild" is written in caveman english. i get why they felt like they were upping the stakes of her songwriting POV but i think short n sweet is so good bcuz there's moments where the songs have like real laugh out loud punchline moments whereas this album is trying to hit one w/ every line which has the effect of dulling the power of the entire endeavor

I've listened to the album a lot and I think it's not hitting me as hard as S'n'S because often Carpenter strains to sing the melodies: she pushes her breathy register to the breaking point. Elvis Costello (of all people) had the same problem writing songs he couldn't sing. I tend to prefer her when the track's got a spring in its step, but even uptempo things like "Manchild" can be a chore.

"Nobody's Son" is the one I keep returning to. It's what Addison Rae tried to do a few months ago.

I gave this a play. "Manchild" grew on me a lot and "Tears" is good. I also like the one that sounds like a fake Paula Abdul song. The rest of this is really dull and uninteresting, and you can really feel the rush to put out "something" while she's still got traction and momentum. I actually really like the idea of pop music that sounds like ABBA and crossover country music simultaneously but neither the performance or the songs are there for me.

Apparently they didn't edit "fuck" when it played live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4M2qjkZxj4

A redditor clipped & posted the uncensored live take: https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/s/uSMvzX0Hac

Album is good but I hate the cover

To a point where it actually impacts my enjoyment of the album. A rarity.

The clip randomly made me wonder if Blondie had ever been on SNL - surely they must have been - and yes, they were, but only once, on 13 October 1979. And only two songs.

Why did that come to me? I think it was a combination of the comedy choreography and also Sabrina Carpenter in a judo outfit. Over time I'll work out how those things are connected.

Surprisingly The Ramones never appeared, despite being one of the quintessential New York bands. Perhaps they were in a different part of New York and the train fare was too expensive for all four of them.

Most artists only ever get two songs during an SNL appearance, although there are loads of exceptions.

As for the Ramones never appearing, early SNL was pretty Classic/Dad Rock oriented, and didn't really embrace the (by then) New Wave until the '80s.

Punk/New Wave during the first five years of SNL:

S1: Patti Smith Group
S2: none, although I guess Joan Armatrading had a New Wave era later
S3: Elvis Costello (substituting for the Sex Pistols)
S4: Devo; Kate Bush; and Talking Heads
S5: Blondie; David Bowie (w/Klaus Nomi); The B-52s; Gary Numan; and The Specials

Everything is so calculated for her when she's on TV that this seems planned. But NBC not editing it out is really surprising. Her songs are like skits, perfect for SNL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZnUHFNY_Uw

XP Censoring such language on live network TV seems silly now that Trump says "Fuck" & "Bullshit" during televised midday pressers.

Supposedly the Ramones were offered an SNL spot when the Sex Pistols cancelled but turned it down because “We’re nobody’s replacement band.”

did the sax guy mess up a cue? his first walk in seemed incorrect lol

fwiw, Debbie Harry also hosted once, in season 6, when she also performed twice.

In Sabrina’s second song on SNL she was backed by 2 “dancers” doing martial arts who were wearing shoes on a mat . Rina Sawayama called it out :

"Big love to Sabrina," Sawayama began her Sunday Instagram Stories post, adding a heart emoji. "But fellow artists creative teams… If we are clearly referencing a culture please can you do so with the research, respect and care it deserves."

Pointing to a specific detail, Sawayama added, "Shoes on tatami is jail."

Debbie Harry was also the musical guest in 1987

xpost You don't want to step barefoot onto a stage where so much utter shit is presented.

y'know, while i was watching her sing a pop song with elaborate hair & makeup, wearing a gi tailored into a miniskirt and pretending to break plastic boards flanked by sax- and guitar-playing karate guys, i couldn't shake the feeling that might be something slightly off about the depiction of martial arts... glad Rina Sawayama was able to put her finger on it

Sabrina's performance on that song was fine but, especially compared with the staging for the other one she did, really felt like the juniors in the theater department had to come up with staging in an all-nighter right before the talent show. Felt really lazy.

really felt like the juniors in the theater department had to come up with staging in an all-nighter right before the talent show

This <is> SNL.

Fair point, but at least the other song's staging showed some thought and fit her vibe/persona pretty well.

I’m not the most religious viewer but it feels like SNL has been especially terrible so far this season. Usually there are at least 3-4 good sketches per show but everything I’ve seen the past three weeks has been flat out embarrassing

Agreed 100%. I'm not a religious viewer either but I think I catch at least half the episodes, generally speaking, and this season has been *bad* so far.

The writing has been awful, and they don't have enough women. Every sketch is Fineman and Sherman in wigs; the former is kinda boring and the latter is not being played to her strengths. They need Ashley Padilla and new cast member Veronika to get up to speed quickly. (Both, thankfully, seem to have a lot of potential.)

Go Off, Queen!

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/bafkreibekoqxo4bnoez43go3nuxbd2jiqaevzrldvissampn3lusgf3xyq@jpeg

https://zeteo.com/p/trump-white-house-sabrina-carpenter

“Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: We won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

Funny that Taylor Swift never comments when Trump uses her music

counterpoint: generating the reaction from the pop star is one of the only reasons why the trump admin does this, and so the “statement” triggers a streisand effect while accomplishing not much beyond pleasing stans on twitter who constantly monitor pop stars’ online interactions

you’re probably right but it’s still better to condemn it