Music Review: Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend mixes heartbreak with sensuality

Pop star Sabrina Carpenter’s seventh studio album, Man’s Best Friend, chronicles a messy breakup, contrasting the romance celebrated in her earlier work Short n’ Sweet.

Known for blending pop with R&B and country influences, Carpenter has never hidden her sensuality. The album’s original cover, showing her in a submissive pose with a suited man, drew mixed reactions online, with some calling it misogynistic and others seeing it as satirical.

The album opens with Manchild, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in June, portraying the immature men Carpenter often encounters. Subsequent tracks like Tears and My Man on Willpower explore disappointment in relationships, leading to the breakup-themed songs Nobody’s Son and We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night.

While expressing heartbreak, Carpenter maintains her signature sensual edge, with tracks like When Did You Get Hot? and House Tour highlighting post-breakup confidence and fun.

With a mix of catchy choruses, playful lyrics, and emotional depth, Man’s Best Friend offers a varied, provocative, and engaging take on love, loss, and moving on.