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Before “Man’s Best Friend” was even released, millions of users on the internet ran to their phones, computers and tablets to give their opinion on the album cover. Whether you believe that the cover for the album is setting women back decades, or is a brilliant satirical take on gender roles and power dynamics between men and women, there’s no denying that “Man’s Best Friend” is a good album.
Starting the album off with country-inspired “Manchild”, Carpenter’s signature tongue and cheek wit and metaphors are as ever present in this track. “Tears”, a heavily 80s adjacent pop track where Carpenter pokes fun at men doing the bare minimum and their low-par actions making her sexually attracted to them.
In her interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Carpenter emphasies that “Man’s Best Friend” was designed to be played out loud – and I couldn’t agree with her more. The album takes through different eras of not only music, but also stages of love, lust, obsession and heartbreak. “When Did You Get Hot?” and “House Tour” provide listeners with the fun and deeply intelligent tracks filled with metaphors and allegories about sex and desire; Carpenter meshes clever writing with catchy melodies, creating an album that truly never gets boring.
In contrast to her “Short n’ Sweet” album from last year, “Man’s Best Friend” sees Carpenter take inspiration from many different eras and infuse them into her music. This album feels more cohesive, more of a story from beginning to end. It’s filled to the brim with brilliant on the nose metaphors and phrases, and we’re going to say it: this is our favourite Sabrina Carpenter yet.
4/5 stars.
Favourite tracks: “Tears”, “Sugar Talking”, “Nobody’s Son”, “When Did You Get Hot?”, “Go Go Juice”, “House Tour” , “Goodbye”, “Manchild”
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