This summer, fresh off her Short n’ Sweet tour, Sabrina Carpenter dropped her newest provocative, suggestive, and controversial album: Man’s Best Friend.
This much-anticipated release capitalized on major hits like “Espresso” and her most recent single, “Manchild,” which served as a teaser for Man’s Best Friend. The album, released on August 29th, 2025, marked Carpenter’s 7th studio album and her 3rd with Island Records.
Despite containing 12 songs, Man’s Best Friend sticks to its predecessor’s namesake of being “Short n’ Sweet”, with a runtime of only 38 minutes. Carpenter collaborated with Jack Antonoff, Amy Allen and John Ryan to create her newest album. Carpenter defiantly remarked in a CBS News interview, “This album is not for the pearl clutchers,” and that the album should be absorbed in a fun way. This comes just after a recent controversy over the album’s cover from fans, many of them claiming that it was bending to meet the male gaze. However, Carpenter countered this argument in a recent Forbes interview.
Carpenter explained that the cover wasn’t celebrating the patriarchal male gaze; instead, it was highlighting “the humanity of allowing yourself to make those mistakes.” Carpenter demonstrated this through her song “Manchild”.
“Manchild”, the album’s single, took the world by storm, reaching number 1 on Billboard’s top 100 songs the week it debuted. The song fuses many genres together, including synthpop, retro 80s, disco and country, which makes it stand out from the mainstream pop music of today. I believe these shifts in genre add depth and emotion to the song, helping her music appeal to a wider audience of people who otherwise would not have been interested in her music.
Another song on the album, “Tears”, accompanied by a music video, in my opinion, raises how men doing basic things for women has become rare, yet attractive in today’s modern world, referencing in the song how just “A little respect for women can get you very, very far.”
In “Nobody’s Son,” Carpenter showcases her negative outlook on men, a theme displayed throughout the album. In the last line of the song, she resolves that “There’s nobody’s son, not anyone left for me to believe in.” This lyric seems to me like she has given up hope in the good faith of men in her life, opting to stop believing in them to avoid getting used like she has in the past.
In “Go Go Juice,” Carpenter could be making references to her past lovers when she says, “Ain’t nobody safe when I’m a little bit drunk […] Could be John or Larry, gosh, who’s to say? […] Or the one that rhymes with ‘villain’ if I’m feelin’ that way […] Oh, I’m just drinking to call someone.” John could allude to Shawn Mendez, Larry to Barry Keoghan, and villain to Dylan O’Brien. With that said, this is all speculation on behalf of fans, and nothing has been confirmed by Carpenter herself.
Overall, Man’s Best Friend marks a venture away from the mainstream pop sounds of her previous work and instead leans into more lyrically heavy music. Carpenter’s new sound encompasses an 80’s disco vibe and ABBA influence with hints of funk, R&B and synth-rock. Her sexual humor, along with the instrumental blend, creates something extremely unique and unlike any other artist. Her songs blend well together, in my opinion, worsening the album. If Carpenter included more vocal range and styles, it would have made the album more interesting and overall better. The blend of music Carpenter creates is the best part of the album, because her lyrics and vocal sound are repetitive. While Carpenter may not exactly be a man’s best friend, she is unapologetically herself.
