In an interview with CBS, Sabrina Carpenter described her upcoming album Man’s Best Friend as “not for any pearl-clutchers.” Since the two-time Grammy winner debuted her album on Aug. 29, 2025, fans of Carpenter have realized that it was no joke: the album is full of suggestive content that has received mixed reviews from listeners. Now her seventh studio album, Man’s Best Friend follows Carpenter’s immense critical and commercial success, Short and Sweet. The album granted Carpenter her first #1 album on the US Billboard 200, eight Grammy nominations, and one of the most-streamed songs of the year, Espresso. Put briefly, Short and Sweet was Carpenter’s definitive breakout album. Arriving only a year after the success of its predecessor, her newest album, Man’s Best Friend, has a lot to live up to. Sonically, did it live up to Short and Sweet? That’s for you to decide.
The album is a blend of various styles of pop, with elements of R&B and synth rock. Similar to Short and Sweet, Man’s Best Friend features Carpenter’s impressive vocals, producer Jack Antonoff’s annoyingly catchy beats, and unapologetically provocative lyrics. Man’s Best Friend began with the single Manchild, which quickly became a viral sound in dance videos on TikTok. Carpenter then released Tears, a mix of pop and disco, and finally the entire album. Songs such as When Did You Get Hot? quickly became popular on social media, especially paired with edits of movie or television show characters having a “glow-up.” The album was a widespread success, ranking first in the Billboard Top 200 in more than 15 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Furthermore, while Short and Sweet had 362,000 album equivalent units (a method of measuring album success), Man’s Best Friend currently outranks its predecessor with 366,000 units in its first week.
However, some students at Lakeside have differing opinions, referring to the album as “mid” and “repetitive”. Another student commented that “the composition of the music” was not for them. Upon our first listen, we concurred that many of the tracks do feature similar elements, both to “Short and Sweet” and to each other. Although subjective, it seemed as though “Man’s Best Friend” strived to be everything its precursor was: fresh, witty, and authentic… yet lost the new, innovative sound and lyricism that gave her artistry a conspicuous effect in the first place. Yet catchy and direct, the production and racy nature of “Short and Sweet” was never meant to be replicated; instead, we would’ve preferred it to be built upon. Regardless, considerable tracks off the album manage to serve their purpose as catchy, stream-all-day material; however, a multitude seem to get lost in the mix and fall flat as “fillers”. After multiple listens, our definitive song of choice was “Sugar Talking”. When asked, interviewees unanimously named lead single “Manchild” as their favorite song.
Despite the impressive performance of “Man’s Best Friend”, there have been many critiques of both the suggestive content as well as the album cover. The cover depicts Carpenter dressed in a black minidress, looking at the camera while on her hands and knees. A figure of a man pulling her hair stands at her side, evoking the image of a dog on a leash. On social media, listeners of Carpenter’s new album have criticized the image, arguing that the cover promotes the objectification of women, indulging in tropes meant to frame women as pets.
The image has also been said to resemble sexist advertisements from the 20th century, where women would often have to pose in a demeaning manner. For example, an article by CNN details how in a 1974 advertisement for Weyenberg Massagic shoes, a woman lay suggestively under the caption “Keep Her Where She Belongs”. The similarities to these types of advertisements have led to more backlash against Carpenter’s album cover. Additionally, many claim that it encourages misogynistic stereotypes and was an attempt to promote the album to the “male gaze”: a feminist concept referring to the objectification of women in film.
Ephron T. ’28 agrees, remarking that “it’s really pretty weird … not the Sabrina Carpenter I know and love.” Personally, while we agree that the album does rely too heavily on its suggestive themes, we also believe that the music is subjective, and Carpenter is entitled to her creative freedom. Furthermore, others believe that the heavily criticized album cover was meant as satire and claim that fans have taken it too seriously. In an interview, Ruhamah T. ’28 stated, “I don’t think she meant for it to be like that. I think there are a lot of worse album covers in history that people don’t talk about, so … you’re finding a way to, like, put down a woman. So I don’t support. Let her do what she wants. It’s her life.” Though the cover seems highly provocative upon initial view, to agree with Ruhamah’s comment, there have been far more graphic and sexual album covers that have not received nearly as much backlash, such as PARTYNEXTDOOR’s “P4” album art.
Regardless of the controversy among listeners, the album has continued to gain popularity both socially and commercially. In the words of Reva G. ’28, “She has creative license over her art, but people are also entitled to their own opinions…when there’s conflict between the two and it gets aggressive, that’s when attention must be paid.” Man’s Best Friend is available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, and many other music streaming platforms. Go listen and let us know what you think: does it live up to the hype, or did “Man’s Best Friend” just become your new greatest enemy?