Omg, this album is rough! Im good at understanding context and lyrics from most artists, i think, but on this album from Sabrina Carpenter, I can't tell if she is joking or being serious with her lyrics. She comes off very weird, obsessive, and crass. The lyrics are just so bad on this album. Throughout this album, I lost count at how many times she said something that just felt wrong or creepy. Like in the song Taste, when she says, “You’ll just have to taste me when he is kissing you." Like who thinks like this? Or on the song Juno, where she is referencing the movie Juno (a girl gets accidentally pregnant) and says that she wants her man to juno her, like that's just weird, poorly expressed thoughts and just sets up a bad example for young men and women. She is clearly trying to express her feelings about her relationships, but there is no subtly or grace in her lyrics. Im dumbfounded that the same person who made the 2024 summer hit “espresso” made a song “slim pickins," where she sounds like the female version of a neckbeard (an adult man or teenage boy who exhibits characteristics such as social awkwardness, underachievement, or pretentiousness). The lyrics really do tank this album and just make it hard to listen to; however, on the music side of things, most of the songs don't sound that bad. We have a mix of upbeat songs to chill acoustic tracks. Her vocal performances aren’t that bad. Sometimes she comes off a bit too quiet and does lots of whisper vocals that have become very popular. She can create a soft and hypnotic singing style. If she can come up with better lyrics and kind of be less weird with them, I think she could have made a great album here. Unfortunately, I feel how she is writing is a snapshot of the current landscape of dating in 2024, and if so, its quite abysmal out there.
RATING: 3/10
NOTABLE TRACKS:
Espresso