Sabrina Carpenter’s seventh studio album, Man’s Best Friend, dropped August 29, 2025. Clocking in at 12 tracks and roughly 38 minutes, it picks up right where Short n’ Sweet left off, full of disco-pop sass, sharp wit, and glossy production.
Style Breakdown: Pop, Country-Pop, Disco-Camp, and More
The album’s sonic palette is a vibrant mash-up, from nu-disco to country-pop to ABBA-style glam and theatrical camp. Jack Antonoff leads production, layering in synth washes, live instruments, even bits of clavinet or sitar.
Key tracks:
- “Manchild” – A tongue-in-cheek country-pop synth beat that roasts immature exes. Sweet melodies deliver scathing insults.
- “Tears” – A disco-pop banger channeling Donna Summer, where polite behavior triggers an irresistible response.
- “House Tour” – A metaphor-packed anthem that blends New Jack Swing energy with witty double entendres.
- “Go Go Juice,” “My Man on Willpower” – Campy, glittery numbers embedding playful commentary within irresistible pop hooks.
Critics say sometimes the satire borders on self-parody, but the craftsmanship pulls you in regardless.
Cultural Buzz: Empowerment, Controversy, and Consent
The album cover, Sabrina on hands and knees with a man pulling her hair, sparked heated cultural debates. Critics viewed it as regressive; defenders argued it’s ironic commentary on female submission. Sabrina herself pushed back, calling out hypocrisy and emphasizing agency.
Sex‐positive experts chimed in, framing the cover as a metaphor for consensual power play, not an act of subservience.
The album cover of Man’s Best Friend sparked a lot of discourse online.
From Financial Times to Vulture to The Guardian, many praise the album’s playful sexual commentary and smart feminist undercurrents. FT calls it a satire-meets-celebration of pop’s humor and sensuality. Vulture spots a clever media experiment: turning moral panic into narrative control.
Meanwhile, The Guardian applauds the musical complexity, unconventional instruments and daring arrangements elevate it beyond mere shock value.
Some take a more tempered view: The Times deemed the music “surprisingly vanilla,” suggesting the bold imagery doesn’t always match the substance.
Ranking our favs from the album
-
Manchild
Sharp, sassy, instantly memorable -
Tears
Disco pop with a cheeky twist -
House Tour
Metaphor rich, playful theatrics -
Go Go Juice
Campy, catchy, fun -
My Man on Willpower
ABBA glitter, snarky edge -
Sugar Talking
Country slow jam with subtle sting -
Never Getting Laid
Soul tinged, emotionally frayed -
We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night
Underrated heart breaker
Man’s Best Friend is a tight, colorful pop record that knows exactly what it is: sharp, glamorous, and cheeky. Sabrina balances between satire and sincerity, using humor and camp to pull listeners into bigger ideas about desire, control, and recognition.
It isn’t always a happy reinvention, sometimes the jokes feel like echoes, and a few tracks lean on the same themes too often. But with more hits than misses, it cements Sabrina Carpenter as not only a singer but a playful provocateur. Perfect for an audience that loves pop culture with its sharp edge on.
