NEW MUSIC: Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Man’s Best Friend’
AUGUST 2025 | WRITTEN BY AMANDA ALDRIDGE
By combining humor, heartbreak and retro beats, you get Sabrina Carpenter’s new hit album, Man’s Best Friend. A year after the pop sensation released her 2025 Grammy-award-winning album, Short n’ Sweet, she dropped a witty, raunchy, self-aware break-up album destined to reach the top of the charts.
As she navigated through her love life shortly after finishing her previous album, she brought together her tried-and-true team, Jack Antonoff, Amy Allen and John Ryan, to write and compose an album with touches of ‘70s groove, ‘80s synths and funky guitar riffs, pulling influence from a few of her favorite artists like ABBA and Dolly Parton.
Encouraged to listen from start to finish, the album follows the life cycle of the end of her relationship. From “Manchild” to “Goodbye,” Carpenter finds a way to mesh upbeat tunes while reflecting on her failed relationships.
Her Song of the Summer “Manchild” expresses how she finds herself dating men who are “stupid, slow and useless," because they don’t know how to treat women right. Similarly, in her second track, “Taste,” she sings, “I get wet at the thought of you / Being a responsible guy” and “Baby, just do the dishes, I’ll give you what you want,” which are both examples of the bare minimum men give her — and how she loves it despite the signs.
Both tracks feature hectic music videos with high-quality production, giving fans a look inside the creative minds of the previous Disney star. Her “Manchild” music video makes many references to vintage western movies, while “Tears” pulls inspiration from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The following three songs on her seventh album, “My Man on Willpower,” “Sugar Talking” and “We Almost Broke up Again Last Night,” reflect on what almost every person on the receiving end of a toxic, loveless relationship feels — neglect and denial. She walks us through the troubles and turmoils of an ending relationship, without failing to weave in her fun, witty personality into the lyrics, singing, “He used to be literally obsessed with me / I’m suddenly the least sought after girl in the land.”
Clearly, in her post-breakup era, Carpenter wrote my personal favorite, “Nobody’s Son” and “Never Getting Laid,” which works through the trauma of being a forever third wheel and cursing her ex, hoping his days are shining from his windowpane and that he experiences a “Lifetime full of happiness and a forever of never getting laid.”
She adds a funky twist to “When Did You Get Hot," where she does a double and triple take of a boy she used to know that suddenly got attractive, adding a ‘90s feel to the track and clever remarks that reference his “new improvements.”
The cure to every breakup is good’ol “Go Go Juice,” but if you’re anything like Carpenter, you’ll end up calling one of your exes if you indulge. In this bar-ballad, she adds some southern twang and sings, “I’m just drinkin’ to call someone / Ain’t nobody safe when I’m a little bit drunk.”
She slows it down with “Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry,” where she admits she’s the flakey one in relationships after being hurt so consistently. She sings, “You think that I’m gonna f*** with your head, well, you’re absolutely right.”
She and her team put their heads together to make an innuendo-filled song sure to make everyone who listens smile. “House Tour” is a slice of music taken out of Madonna and Michael Jackson’s discographies in the mid-’80s, blending synth-funky beats while singing about confidence in a fun, hilarious way. She sings, “Do you want the house tour? / I could take you to the first, second, third floor / And I promise none is a metaphor / I just want you to come inside.”
She ended her album the way she ends her relationships — with “Goodbye.” Saying goodbye in multiple languages, she tells her ex that once he walks out, he’s done. In her Abba-inspired song, she sings, “Sayonara, adiós / You’re not bilingual but you should know / Goodbye means that you’re losing me for life.
While many speculated Man’s Best Friend wouldn’t live up to Short N’ Sweet’s legacy, I think her seventh album is her most sophisticated, fun, witty and emotional one yet. The popstar has beautifully evolved into a sound that has become unmistakably her own. If you’re looking for a pop-centric, versatile album, this is the one to play.
