“Oh, I leave quite an impression…five feet to be exact” – from the song “Taste” by Sabrina Carpenter. 

Let’s talk about Sabrina Carpenter. To say that the petite pop star is having quite the year is an understatement. Top charting singles with “Please Please Please” and “Espresso,” acing the Artist of the Year at the MTV VMA’s (and perhaps the Grammy’s are to follow), and a hot-selling arena tour are just some of the indicators that Sabrina Carpenter, the singer, is winning big. And that’s not even mentioning the full-length album she released last August. 

While the rest of the world is only familiar with “Please..” and “Espresso,” one needs to go a little deeper to appreciate the delectable treat that is Sabrina Carpenter. And there’s so much more to “Short n’ Sweet” besides its ubiquitous previous hit singles. The album itself is chock full of tasty songs that run the gamut from electropop, country, acoustic, pop and other stylings that surprisingly, fits Sabrina Carpenter to a T. 

Beginning with the 80’s pop rock glimmer of album opener “Taste” where the 25-year old former Disney actress rightfully channels some Divinyls-’I Touch Myself’-type sparkle into this sexy mid-tempo rocker. “Taste” was released as the third single around the same time “Short n’ Sweet” was released and it immediately shot just short of the top spot at the American singles chart and tied The Beatles for some kind of chart record. And just in time for Halloween too, as the music video features Sabrina Carpenter and ‘Wednesday Addams’ actress Jenna Ortega in a “Death Becomes Her” duel over a male love interest. 

As mentioned, Sabrina Carpenter does not limit her stylistic preferences. She shows off her R&B-tinged dance club leanings on “Good Graces”; vocals and acoustic guitar minimalism on “Coincidence”; and contemplative balladry on “Dumb & Poetic.” Sabrina even manages to pull off a nice-sounding country-flavored tune on “Slim Pickings” which quite impresses truth be told. 

Theme-wise, Sabrina imbues her songs with themes of love and romance. From the successful ones that end sweetly and naughtily such as the excellent and catchy pop sounds of “Juno”; to the ones that never seem to go nowhere (no matter how hard she tries) like on dreamy but brooding “Lie To Girls.” 

Lyrically, Sabrina’s songs give off a straight-from-the-pages-of-her-journal vibe that in turn gives her songs a conversational feel like on “Sharpest Tool” and “Bed Chem” to mention a few. Its best example is on “Please Please Please.” Few pop songs this year (so far) have spoken so explicitly what it's about. And to paraphrase what Sabrina is really asking for in this song is: ‘Don’t prove I’m right and embarrass me and bring me to tears, motherf***er!’ Especially when I did my makeup so nice!’ 

Fair enough!

Black Pink’s JENNIE just dropped a new single titled “Mantra.”  A long way from her days as a K-pop import, Jennie, with Blackpink, made great strides stateside. These days, Jennie has stepped successfully outside on her own, is a familiar face on the fashion scene, and is a successful brand ambassador. 

Her latest track, “Mantra,” is an upbeat, made-for-the-club dance-pop emblazoned with the singer-rapper’s favorite themes of Girl power. “Mantra” boasts an impressive team that includes Spanish producer El Guincho, Kuk Harrell, and Canadian Grammy-awarded mixing and audio engineer Serban Ghenea (some of the people behind the production). 

JENNIE and “Mantra” signal the partnership between the pop-artist-turned-entrepreneur’s label and entertainment company ODDATELIER (Odd Atelier Entertainment Inc.) and Columbia Records.