“Man’s Best Friend” : A Review
Introduction
Sabrina Carpenter is officially in her hyper-pop star era! Man’s Best Friend, her seventh studio album, dropped this weekend, and it feels like both a continuation and an expansion of the world she built with Short and Sweet. For anyone who’s somehow missed her evolution, Sabrina’s journey started long before she was headlining arenas. My first introduction to her was through Girl Meets World and her debut single Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying. Fast-forward to 2025, and she’s not just “the girl from TV” anymore - she’s one of pop’s most exciting storytellers, crafting lyrics that are sharp, playful, and downright hilarious.
On Man’s Best Friend, Sabrina teams up with Jack Antonoff, Amy Allen, and John Ryan to deliver an album that’s witty, sarcastic, and full of innuendos that will have you rewinding just to catch what she actually said. It’s lighthearted, but it also cuts close to the bone if you’ve ever been through a messy situationship, a post highschool glow-up, or a breakup that left you both crying and laughing.
Before Thoughts
I’ve never written a music review before, so consider this my crash course in figuring it out in real time. This isn’t a technical breakdown of production or vocal mixing - it’s just my opinion, filtered through my own experiences. When I say I loved emails i can’t send, I mean I lived inside that album. I went into Man’s Best Friend wondering if Sabrina would lean further into raw songwriting or spin into something else entirely. The answer? She somewhat managed to do both.
Track #1: “Manchild”
Rating: 7/10
“Manchild” is Sabrina at her most playful - the thrill of kicking and giggling your way through the stupidity of choosing a man who doubles as a child. There’s something cathartic in the way she delivers the sass, almost like she’s laughing at the choices we all hate admitting we’ve made. The lyric “I swear they choose me. I’m not choosing them.” hits with a mix of humor and exhaustion.
I’ve had this on repeat since its release, and the extra time to marinate has only made me love it more. It’s catchy, fun, a little twangy - and the timing of its drop felt perfect. As the opening track, it works like the thesis of the album: bold, cheeky, tongue-in-cheek, and rooted in experiences we’d rather laugh about than cry over.
Track #2: “Tears”
Rating: 6/10
“Tears” is FREAKY. At its core, it’s about how hot it can be when a significant other simply treats you right - which is wild when you realize how rare that feels in this day and age. Sabrina leans into the irony, almost making fun of the way the bare minimum has become enough to make someone swoon.
The music video, starring Sabrina alongside Colman Domingo (screaming!!!) and directed by Bardia Zeinali, is a whole production on its own. The dance break? Iconic. The song itself doesn’t take things too seriously, which I think is the point - it’s a wink at the ridiculousness of romantic expectations and how low the bar has been set.
Track #3: “My Man on Willpower”
Rating: 9/10
LOL! This one hit me like a punch to the gut. “My Man on Willpower” captures the high of being with someone who lifts you up and makes you feel unstoppable, only to have them drop you without warning. That whiplash is devastating, and Sabrina nails it.
The lyric “He used to be literally obsessed with me. I’m suddenly the least sought after girl in the land” is both absurd and heartbreakingly real. It feels like she wrote the anthem for anyone who’s ever gone from pedestal to afterthought overnight. The melody balances confidence with vulnerability, reminding you that heartbreak doesn’t need to sound sad to cut deep - a theme of this album I am starting to pick up on. This was a standout for me because it mirrors emotional shifts I’ve lived through myself.
Track #4: “Sugar Talking”
Rating: 7/10
Sexy, layered, and full of double meaning, “Sugar Talking” is Sabrina flexing her ability to dress up nothing and make it feel like something. The lyric “You filled my whole apartment with flowers that die” says it all: grand gestures mean little when there’s no substance underneath.
It’s framed beautifully - sweet on the surface, rot underneath the petals. The track is fun and sultry, but it’s also a reminder of how easy it is to confuse noise for connection. Loved.
Track #5: “We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night”
Rating: 7/10
This track is makeup sex stripped of romance - raw, desperate, and sugarcoated with Sabrina’s signature wit. It’s about a fragile night when you know you’re losing someone and scramble to fix it with anything, even if it’s the wrong thing.
The lyric “I know how it looks, I know how it sounds. Least we’ll give ’em something to talk about” captures that push-and-pull perfectly. It’s devastating if you sit with it too long, but Sabrina disguises the pain with sweetness that makes you want to hit replay.
Track #6: “Nobody’s Son”
Rating: 6/10
This one made me laugh out loud in the best way. “Nobody’s Son” is cutting, mean, and brutally honest - a clapback to mama’s boys and the people who broke us so badly that every future love feels like collateral damage (I have an article on that, go check out “What Love Wasn’t") The lyric “That boy is corrupt. PTSD on the daily” feels like a text you’d fire off to your best friend at 2 AM. I’ve lived that third-wheel, post-breakup detachment where you think, there’s just no one worth it. It’s funny, biting, and almost healing in its pettiness.
Track #7: “Never Getting Laid”
Rating: 4/10
This one isn’t fully clicking for me yet, but I think it might grow. It’s very snarky and sultry all at once - a jealousy-fueled anthem built out of situational romance. It captures that energy where two people swear they’re “not together” but still enforce the rules of jealousy.
The lyric “I love you just the same I just hope you get agoraphobia someday” is savage and hilarious, and honestly, it’s the part that saved the song for me. The ending is sharp and self-aware in a way that made me laugh out loud. Right now, it’s not my favorite, but it feels like one of those tracks that sneaks up on you later.
Track #8: “When Did You Get Hot”
Rating: 8/10
This track is pure fun and honestly one of the funniest, most clever concepts on the album. “When Did You Get Hot” flips the perspective of realizing someone you once brushed off suddenly had a glow-up, and now you’re forced to deal with that shocking attraction. It’s cheeky, lighthearted, and almost bratty in its delivery, which makes it so replayable. The lyric “Sorry, I did not see the vision (Ooh-ooh, did not see the vision) / Thank the Lord, the fine you has risen (The fine you has risen)” is begging to go viral on TikTok - I can already imagine transition edits with old photos flipping into glam shots. It’s one of those tracks that doesn’t overthink itself, and that’s why it works so well. It’s playful, a little unserious, and further proof that Sabrina thrives when she leans into humor while still keeping it catchy.
Track #9: “Go Go Juice”
Rating: 10/10
This is the messy girl anthem of the record! “Go Go Juice” feels like a song written for chaos lovers, the girls who cope with heartbreak and bad decisions by leaning into them instead of pretending they don’t exist. The lyric “Some good old-fashioned fun sure numbs the pain” sets the tone perfectly - whether your “juice” is substances, reckless choices, or a late-night text to someone you shouldn’t rekindle with, we all have our own version of it. It’s loud, glittery, and just the right amount of unhinged. What really elevates it, though, is the slow-down toward the end. That moment when the buzz wears off, and reality starts creeping back in, is so hauntingly real. Sabrina captures that shift between euphoric escapism and sobering aftermath with such precision. Also, the petty not-so-name-drop? Hello? This one is my personal favorite and the track I know I’ll come back to again and again.
Track #10: “Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry”
Rating: 10/10
This is one of the most powerful songs Sabrina has ever released. “Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry” is loud, defiant, and dripping with self-awareness. It’s an anthem for every girl who’s been labeled “too much.” Instead of apologizing, Sabrina leans into the chaos, spelling out exactly why someone might struggle to be with her and daring them to stick around anyway. The lyric “But on the forty-minute drive home, you’re internalizing my jokes” gutted me because I’ve lived that exact moment: when your humor suddenly isn’t funny anymore, when someone turns your lightheartedness into something to hold against you. It’s so specific, yet it feels universal. This track is unapologetic and fearless, and it easily earns its place as one of the standouts on the album.
Track #11: “House Tour”
Rating: 6/10
“House Tour” is silly in the best way possible. The lyric “Do you want the house tour? I could take you to the first, second, third floor / And I promise none of this is a metaphor” feels like classic Sabrina - leaning into literal humor while winking at the double meanings underneath. It’s playful, Polly Pocket-core energy with a touch of adult innuendo. I feel like I would hear this track in a furniture store. I love the sound of the door opening at the end of the song insinuating what happens next. I’ve already seen people using it in actual TikTok house tours, and honestly, that’s brilliant promo. It’s not one of my favorites musically, but it has that campy, fun quality that gives the album breathing room.
Track #12: “Goodbye”
Rating: 7/10
As an album closer, “Goodbye” ties everything together with wit and bite. It’s sassy, sharp, and delivered with just enough tenderness to make it sting. The lyric “Can’t call it love, then call it quits / Can’t shoot me down, then shoot the shit / Did you forget that it was you who said goodbye?” is so catchy and I think my favorite lyric so far - it’s both petty and profound, the kind of line you want to scream in the car with the windows down. I love how she cycles through saying goodbye in multiple languages, almost mocking the situation while still making it catchy. The piano adds a theatrical flair that makes it feel like a curtain call, and I can easily see this working as the final song on her tour setlist. It’s a clever way to end.
Bonus Track #13: “Such a Funny Way”
Rating: 10/10 (Favorite)
I can’t stop replaying this track. “Such a Funny Way” is about the dissonance between what someone says and how they act, and Sabrina captures that emotional tornado perfectly. The lyric “And what a strange coincidence, your grandma died and died again. And I would send condolences, if one of my phone calls would just go through” is so absurd that it made me laugh out loud. She then follows it with “It’s funny you’re out drinking, funny I’m at home. Funny everybody knows something that I don’t” and suddenly, it’s not funny anymore, it’s gut-wrenching. I’ve been there: admired when convenient, erased when not. The way this track flips between bitter humor and raw pain is genius, and honestly, it deserved a spot on the main album. The fact that it’s only a vinyl exclusive feels criminal.
Overall: 7/10
Man’s Best Friend is bold, cheeky, and absolutely packed with personality. Sabrina leaned hard into the innuendo and campy humor, and while part of me missed the raw, diaristic lyricism of emails i can’t send, I still loved this album for what it is: a girly, pop-forward ride that doesn’t take itself too seriously. At times, it feels a little all over the place - but that’s part of the charm. It’s fun, it’s campy, it’s unpredictable, and it leaves you second - guessing what you just heard. With flourishes of ’70s and ’80s pop layered into a glossy modern aesthetic, it’s easily one of her most playful bodies of work yet. My personal highlights were Go Go Juice, Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry, and Such a Funny Way.
This album proves that Sabrina isn’t just experimenting - she’s owning her lane, and she’s doing it with confidence and humor. If this is her hyper-pop star era, I’m fully here for it.
Thank you for reading, and if you have any suggestions of albums I should review in the future drop a comment!
