On August 29, Sabrina Carpenter released her seventh studio album, Man’s Best Friend. Featuring twelve upbeat and memorable tracks, the pop superstar’s album has already seen a wave of success and love. It has quickly become the album with the biggest opening week in 2025 for a female artist, and even debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200.
Ever since the release of her global hit “Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter has dominated the charts with her clever lyricism and catchy beats. Despite having been in the industry since 2015, Carpenter’s success skyrocketed with the release of Short n’ Sweet in 2024, an album which managed to perfectly encapsulate the feeling of summer inside songs that make any listener want to hit repeat.
This year, the singer surprised fans with the release of a brand new single, titled “Manchild.” A clever song about the annoyance that comes with having an immature partner, it was the perfect transition from Short n’ Sweet to Man’s Best Friend, borrowing elements used in the previous album, while also providing a preview for the next one.
Man’s Best Friend is a stand out release in Carpenter’s discography, but one that requires more than just a singular listen. The album is filled with complex instrumentals and production that calls back to music from another era; the seventies and eighties influences within the songs are apparent, with touches of ABBA, Dolly Parton, and the Carpenters throughout. As for aesthetics, she calls back to a female artist who paved the way for singers like Sabrina: Madonna. Both in fashion and marketing, the album’s influences from the decades of the late twentieth century are embraced in each song and photoshoot.
Although every song on the album shines individually, as a package, the tracklist is part of what makes this release memorable. From beginning to end, Carpenter relives a painful romantic journey, while also playfully acknowledging the part she played in her own mistreatment. Starting with “Manchild,” a song that quite literally begins with a laugh, and ending off with the cheeky seventies-inspired anthem “Goodbye,” the album is covered in Sabrina’s personal humor. Her jokes (which she swears on “House Tour” aren’t metaphors) add perfectly to the listening experience of the album. While often criticized for not being “deep enough” or lacking emotional complexity in her recent songs, Sabrina’s coping with heartbreak the way she does best: with laughter.
Despite the criticism that Carpenter faced with the announcement and release of this album, there’s a reason Sabrina’s the focus on the cover art: it’s her story, told the way she wants to tell it. The artist is incredibly self aware of how her own actions often result in the tough romances she sings about, but is completely capable of accepting that (so long as she gets to laugh about it). Sabrina’s good at not taking herself seriously—it’s the public that’s bad at it.
With her ever powerful vocals, clever songwriting, and layered production, Sabrina Carpenter delivers another pop standout for the books. By paying homage to eras and artists that predate her (and most of her fans), she creates an album that can withstand the test of time. Man’s Best Friend approaches the horrors of modern dating with a retro twist, a wink, and a cheeky grin.
