The words “I’ve heard this before” pop into my head as I listen to Sabrina Carpenter’s recently released album titled “Man’s Best Friend.” I’ve put off listening to Sabrina’s latest, the follow-up to her ultra successful “Short ‘n Sweet” album that upped her status from ‘post-Disney-actor-era’ to pop superstar levels, so I can have some distance. Because, like everyone, there was a time when I couldn't shake off humming “Espresso” in my head.

I wanted to absorb the album, not rush-listen-review it to be fair to Sabrina Carpenter, only because the album, right after a mega-successful campaign, is always interesting. One gets the measure of a pop artist after a big hit single. Is she going the same route? Is she going the way nobody expects? Is it going to be the same music team and all that jazz?

Which leads me back to “I’ve heard this before.” Because this is old music that she’s playing. The ’70s and ’80s pop kind, to be exact.

Opening with “Man Child” and its pulsing keyboard synth hook that reminds me of The Nolans’ “Gotta Pull Myself Together.” Not that I know every pop record from the ’70s and ’80s, but I’ve done my fair share of digging back to listen to records and artists before my time. I digress. The bubblegum pop sound of “Man Child,” with its memorable chorus, echoes back to a bygone era, updated, though, with 2025 spunk by Sabrina, who sings about her disdain for incompetent and immature men.

Sabrina draws inspiration from “Saturday Night Fever” and on “Tears,” a tune about modern dating disappointments, the disco vibe is obvious. The ’70s pop vibe glitters on “My Man on Willpower” as Sabrina's sultry tones latch on like earworms. The groove on “Never Getting Laid” gives off a soul R&B vibe and eventually opens up to a catchy pop chorus where Brina wishes her ex “a lifetime full of happiness and a forever of never getting laid.”

Sabrina and producer Jack Antonoff blend a diverse range of retro-inspired styles that include disco, R&B with nods to 70’s-80’s glam pop, soft rock, and a bit of country on “House Tour,” “Nobody’s Son,” “When Did You Get Hot,” and “Go Go Juice” respectively.

If Sabrina's lyrics read like journal entries, it’s because it is. Sabrina writes her lyrics in a notebook, hence her verses sound conversational. And it's when she’s at her best, like on “Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry.” On “We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night” she goes: “Bullshit repeats itself is that how the saying goes/been here a thousand times,” and later sings in 70’s pop ballad style, “All the I love you’s and I’m sorry’s were said / we had our sex and then we made amends that’s right / called it false alarm to all of our friends / then we almost broke up again last night,” reminiscent of Diana Ross’ “Touch Me In The Morning.”

On the R&B-inflected chill of “Sugar Talking,” Sabrina, singing about empty promises and empty gestures intones: “Your paragraphs mean sh*t to me, get your sorry ass to mine / You filled my whole apartment with flowers that die / the first to open up your wallet / but the last one to flag / a heart only breaks so many times.” On “Goodbye,” Sabrina gets her ABBA on but stamps it with Sabrina’s middle finger of approval. Which is to say it’s good.

Really good in fact. Though mentioning these retro references seems unavoidable, it doesn’t matter. Not for Sabrina and not especially for all her young audiences. Who, for all intents and purposes, all of these sounds new.