By Shyann Morrow, Contributor

[Island Records; 2025]

Rating: 7/10

Key Tracks: “15 Minutes,” “Busy Woman,” “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder”

NOTE: This review of Short n’ Sweet (Deluxe) will only cover the newly released bonus tracks.

Post Grammy win, Sabrina Carpenter announced that she would be releasing Short n’ Sweet (Deluxe) on Feb.14. Carpenter initially released Short n’ Sweet in August of 2024 and it quickly became a huge success as an album full of radio hits. The album earned Carpenter her first two Grammy Awards for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance for her song “Espresso” earlier this month.

Short n’ Sweet (Deluxe) includes four new songs, as well as a revamped version of “Please, Please, Please” featuring country icon Dolly Parton. The new tracks are consistent with the rest of the album, full of witty remarks and double entendres.

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Prior to Short n’ Sweet, Carpenter released five albums and has been in the music industry for over a decade, but it’s no secret that her career has skyrocketed in recent years. Carpenter uses “15 Minutes” as a witty comeback to those who doubt the longevity of her work, poking fun at the “15 minutes of fame” trope. The song serves as a reminder that Carpenter is far from new to the industry and, if she does only have 15 minutes, she intends to cherish her success for as long as she has it.

“Couldn’t Make It Any Harder” is a switch up from some of the other songs on the album that address Carpenter’s love life. Songs such as “Dumb & Poetic” and “Sharpest Tool” follow the guidelines of a more typical breakup song and directly address an ex-lover. Carpenter switches up the narrative in “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder” by seemingly speaking to a potential love interest, or at least someone who is trying to be a love interest. The song is refreshing as Carpenter is seemingly apologetic for wanting to protect herself from heartbreak to a man who has done nothing to earn her distrust.

One of the largest criticisms of Short n’ Sweet was that all of the songs on the album were similar. The new tracks on the deluxe version do fall in line with that criticism. While the tracks are enjoyable, they are also more of the same. The content of “Bad Reviews” is very similar to a previous track, “Lie To Girls,” in the sense that both songs are about ignoring toxic behavior for the sake of maintaining a relationship. Part of the success of Short n’ Sweet came from Carpenter’s clever use of creative insults and excess of sexual innuendos in her lyrics, but at some point during the album the music becomes a bit monotonous. “Please, Please, Please”, already a number one hit, had the potential to become more with the Dolly Parton feature, however the song might have benefitted more if Parton had a new verse. Instead it’s the exact same as the original song with the addition of Parton’s vocals and an increased country instrumental. That being said, the additional tracks are just as enjoyable as the original tracks on the album.

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/3WzBIQmn2hrulLeTY9smkk?si=GILgX7yNRMCyunpptorarw