On Aug. 23, Sabrina Carpenter, the internet’s favorite pop princess, released her latest album cleverly titled “Short n’ Sweet.” In her 12-song album, Carpenter — who stands at a proud 5 feet tall — is anything but sweet. While some are lauding her as a fresh face on the scene, true fans know her from her early acting days on Disney Channel’s “Girl Meets World” and her previous six albums. As one of said early fans, watching her music and identity mature over the past few years has been entertaining. “Short n’ Sweet” follows her previous albums with classic themes of love and heartbreak, but with a little more bitterness and a lot more raunchiness sprinkled in. 

Two songs off the album, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” were released as singles earlier in the summer, giving listeners a taste of what was to come. Chart-topping and critically acclaimed, both songs display Carpenter’s clever wordplay and catchy tunes. “Please Please Please” articulates a biting narrative in which she pleads with her lover to just stay out of trouble and not embarrass her, while “Espresso” brings a more self-obsessed, fun-filled summer energy to the album. 

The first track on “Short n’ Sweet” is entitled “Taste” and starts the album out strong. In the surprisingly upbeat breakup anthem, the singer addresses her ex-lover’s new beau, reminding the replacement that she’ll have to taste Carpenter’s lips every time they kiss. The music video shows this rivalry in a rather gruesome line of events where the two women use various violent methods to try to take each other out. Fittingly, it features Jenna Ortega, Hollywood’s newest scream queen, and references many classic films such as “Death Becomes Her” and “Kill Bill.” Some theorize that “Taste” is a jab at Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello, who got back together after Carpenter had a brief fling with him. 

Similarly, the next track, “Good Graces,” warns a male lover about how good she is at “turning loving into hatred.” The next two songs bring a slower, more acoustic mood and poke fun at the intelligence and trustworthiness of the men she gets involved with. “Coincidence” — which chronicles how convenient all the excuses she was given in a bad relationship seem — has an almost country-pop melody that is slightly reminiscent of Harry Styles’s “Canyon Moon.”

The sixth track of the album pivots to a more positive note. In “Bed Chem,” she fantasizes about a boy that she met briefly and how great their sexual chemistry would be. Though she never mentions a name, the way she swoons over his “wide, blue eyes” and “thick accent” seems to point to her current boyfriend, Irish actor Barry Keoghan. In this song, Carpenter debuts some of her most suggestive lyrics yet. Though this is not the first time she has openly displayed her embrace of sexuality — her custom outros for “Nonsense” during Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” exemplify this — it might still be shocking to some listeners. But to others, it is refreshing to hear a woman talk about her needs and desires so openly when the world is so used to hearing men talk in the same way. Her light and feminine vocals also provide an interesting contrast to the raunchy lyrics. 

After “Bed Chem” and “Espresso,” the album winds down to a slow and somber end. In the final songs, Carpenter laments many aspects of her failed romantic relationships — from the fake personalities to an unfortunate dearth of eligible suitors to her lack of self-respect in choosing a partner — nothing is safe from her criticism. The singular exception to this slew of downbeat tracks is “Juno,” a bubbly ballad that references the 2007 indie classic movie of the same name that deals with the topic of teenage pregnancy. Carpenter cleverly tells her lover that if he treats her right, she might let him “make [her] Juno” — pregnant. Just like previous songs, “Juno” pairs sexually explicit lyrics with light and dainty vocals and melodies.

“Short n’ Sweet” embodies Sabrina Carpenter’s evolution and maturity as an artist and a 21st-century woman. While she deftly combines musical influences from diverse backgrounds — disco in “Espresso,” R&B in “Good Graces” and country in “Slim Pickins,” among others — the album falls flat thematically. On my first listen, I appreciated the fresh take on modern romance and sexuality. However, as the album went on, I couldn’t help but feel that the male-centered subject became tiring. Even “Espresso,” perhaps the most self-loving song of the album, at its core, centers on her relationship with a man. As a longtime fan looking forward to her future releases, I hope to hear more about Sabrina Carpenter — not the men she sleeps with.