Review: New Sabrina Carpenter Album Great Sonic Shift From Previous Work

Noah Johnson, Staff Writer • September 9, 2025

Sabrina Carpenter released her newest album on Aug. 29, 2025, titled “Man’s Best Friend,” marking it her seventh studio album. The album comes over a year after her previous album, “Short n’ Sweet,” was released. Carpenter worked with Jack Antonoff, Amy Allen and John Ryan, the same collaborators she worked with on select songs on “Short n’ Sweet.”

This album is a sonic shift from her previous album, with these 12 tracks being more sultry and toned down. All the songs are still catchy and upbeat, but there is more of a folky and deep tone on these songs. Carpenter’s songwriting continues to elevate as she evolves as a writer, and the lyrics of this album highly reflect that.

“I think [Carpenter’s] play on words [in] every single song is the funniest thing to me, and I think she plays it off so well,” said Ava Porchowsky, a Wadsworth High School junior and Carpenter fan.

The best song on the album is “When Did You Get Hot?” The production is different from anything Carpenter has used before, making the song stand out in the album. The deep bass beats and Carpenter’s lower register blend so well together, and bring the song to the top of the album’s takeaways.

“I like the beats in the song,” said Morgan Shaeffer, a Wadsworth High School senior and fan of Carpenter. “It is just really catchy.”

Carpenter starts the album with the lead single, “Manchild,” and ends the album with “Goodbye.” Both songs are perfect book ends to the record, with “Manchild” perfectly introducing one of the common themes of the album with its opening line, with Carpenter verbally preparing herself for the rollercoaster of emotions she is going into.. “Goodbye” finishes the album with Carpenter saying her goodbyes, in five different languages, to the relationships that caused her the pain she sings about in the previous 11 tracks.

Overall, “Man’s Best Friend” is some of Carpenter’s best work. Her deep, yet airy production, her immense vocal register, and her impactful and poignant lyrics make this album not only among Carpenter’s best, but some of the best of this year.

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About the Contributor

Noah Johnson, Entertainment Editor

Noah is the Entertainment Editor of The Bruin. He has been on the staff for over 2 years. Noah joined the newspaper for his love of writing and wanted to further advance his knowledge of topics in the news. Noah enjoys writing entertainment and features stories the most, but also enjoys writing in-depth stories and diving into topics deeper than a surface level. Throughout the class, he has refined his writing skills as well as his social skills due to conducting multiple interviews. Without The Bruin, he never would have been given the opportunity to talk with people from different backgrounds and learn more about the world around him. He has found friends through The Bruin that will last a lifetime and he is forever grateful for the connections he made in the class.