By Punch Liwanag
As the world of pop music crosses into the second half of 2024, the year is fast shaping up to be the year of Sabrina Carpenter. This, as the former Disney channel star, rises to ubiquitous levels in the realm of pop music as two of her recently released singles are lording it over at the singles charts with “Espresso” and the ultra-catchy “Please Please Please.”
But before we dive into what makes these two songs tick, we ask the obvious question for you: Who is Sabrina Carpenter? Where did she come from, and how did she seemingly get herself so easily into pop musicdom’s elite circles?
Sabrina Carpenter is an American singer and actress who starred in Disney Channel’s “Girl Meets World” in 2014 when she was just around 15. Sabrina debuted in recording when she released her first single in 2013, “Can’t Blame a Girl For Trying.” And even before she became the hot act with the hot single today, she already had four full-length albums to her credit, beginning with her 2015 debut album “Eyes Wide Open.”
And Sabrina Carpenter has come a long way since her days with Disney. The “Girl Meets World” actress has become quite the looker. Now 25 years of age, Sabrina looks the part of a popstar: gold blonde locks, alluring smokey eyes, in that petite 5-foot frame equipped with the honied voice to sing those seriously infectious pop songs that she’s been dropping. As an actress-dance-pop-artist-blond-bombshell, she’s shaping up to be this generation’s Kylie Minogue.
But more than anything, the real buzz about Sabrina Carpenter is in the songs. Take “Please Please Please” for example. In this electro-pop-tinged number that’s filled to the brim with memorable melodies, it’s a sweet-sounding affair but with a hint of a bitter undercurrent of her musings about modern-day relations. She sings: ‘Please, please, please / don’t prove I’m right / don’t bring me to tears / I just did my make up so nice.’ Almost immediately, she follows: ‘My heartbreak is one thing / My ego’s another, I beg you: don’t embarrass me…motherf***er.’ An eloquent soliloquy if ever there was one.
And the song even comes with a proper middle-eight, or that part of a song that’s also known as a bridge, that’s turned nimbly into the outro chorus, which goes: ‘If you wanna go and be stupid / don’t do it in front of me / if you don’t wanna cry to my music / don’t make me hate you prolifically,’ as it ends into repeating high register choruses of please, please, pleases. Whew!
The brains behind this instant classic is frequent Taylor Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff who co-wrote the track with Carpenter and one Amy Allen (Harry Styles, Halsey, Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber to name a few). Jack Antonoff has the Midas touch and turns songs into gold. But credit also goes to Sabrina, who delivers with aplomb.
Meanwhile, “Espresso” is a synthpop, pop funk disco amalgam where Sabrina sings her phrasing with zip, the poppin’ lines: ‘Now he’s thinkin’ bout me / every night, oh is that sweet? I guess so / Say you can’t sleep, baby I know / That’s that me, espresso.’
Both songs are currently in the Top 10 with “Please..” already hitting the top. Making the wait for her upcoming album—aptly titled “Short n’ Sweet” – all the more exciting for both her fans and pop listeners of all colors.