Following the success of 2024’s flirtatious Short n’ Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter has fully committed to her pin-up popstar status with Man’s Best Friend, perhaps to its detriment. It was clear from the release of the album artwork and recent press that the dominant theme would be sex, but the question over whether it was satirical or not genuinely remains unanswered because of its general lack of creativity. It’s more explicit than we have previously heard her, and it is humorous at times, but its entire identity does seem to be based around the fact she likes sex. Had this been a later album from a more established artist, that might have been an exciting move, but this album makes it unclear where to place Sabrina in the current music landscape.
The music itself is basic radio-friendly pop which is what makes the explicit lyrics a confusing choice. In itself, overly sexual pop music in 2025 is a far more complex societal issue than it seems Man’s Best Friend was ever designed to encourage discussion of. The approach feels outdated and immature, and even once you get past that there are only a few tracks that feel worthy of the position they were obviously hoping to achieve.
To its credit, thanks to the production, Sabrina’s voice and the catchy upbeat tunes, Man’s Best Friend is mostly enjoyable to hum along to. “House Tour” is a highlight, an Eighties-pop-sounding track with an extremely catchy chorus, and “Nobody’s Son” also stands out with Instagram caption ready lyrics and another fun melody.
“Sugar Talking” steals the operatic country style of Chappell Roan, and “We Almost Broke Up Last Night” feels like an attempt at Taylor Swift’s iconic “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, but neither with the sincerity or creative prowess of their counterparts.
This album feels more like promotion of the objectification of women and the glamourisation of abusive relationships and alcoholism than it does a relatable body of work for anybody facing those issues. It is not cohesive or intelligent enough to be so explicit, and is far too overt to be a fun pop album.
