“Oh, I leave quite an impression,” Sabrina Carpenter sings to open her sixth album, “Short n’ Sweet.”

The album was Carpenter’s first after the release of her smash hit “Espresso” that quickly soared on the Billboard Charts, marking Carpenter’s first top ten hit. Carpenter did, in fact, leave quite an impression一“Espresso” peaked at number three on the United States Billboard Hot 100, and her next single, “Please Please Please,” earned Carpenter her first number one.

With the smashing success of the album’s singles, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” fans eagerly anticipated the release of her album, “Short n’ Sweet,” on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. The album did not disappoint, with a mix of Carpenter’s signature ballads and the catchy pop songs that finally launched her into superstardom. 

The album earned Carpenter her first Grammys at the 2025 Grammys, where she won “Best Pop Solo Performance” for “Espresso” and “Best Pop Vocal Album” for “Short n’ Sweet.” As a “thank you” for winning her first Grammys, Carpenter announced the release of her deluxe album, “Short n’ Sweet (Deluxe).”

The deluxe album was released on Friday, Feb. 14, featuring four new tracks and “Please Please Please (feat. Dolly Parton).”

Though no song truly disappointed, the deluxe tracks were the type that it felt clear why they were left off the original album. 

This sharply contrasts “emails i can’t send fwd:”, the deluxe version of Carpenter’s fifth album, “emails i can’t send.” On “emails i can’t send fwd:”, which featured hit “Feather” and other strong songs like “opposite” and “things i wish you said,” the deluxe tracks felt like they added to the album in a way that made it feel more complete. 

“Please Please Please (feat. Dolly Parton)” was undoubtedly the biggest letdown. Carpenter did not re-record her parts of “Please Please Please” and simply added Parton’s vocals to the original track. Parton remained in the background of the song, lacking any forward presence, and it sounded “messy,” as if the collaboration was thrown together two days before the album release.

While “Bad Reviews” had the punchy line, “I can’t lose another boy that’s not even my boyfriend,” that quickly went viral on TikTok, the song otherwise feels one-note and boring. It fits in with the rest of the country-adjacent ballads present on “Short n’ Sweet,” yet doesn’t manage to reach the level of artistry present in the others.

The same is true for “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder,” another slow ballad. On this track, Carpenter sings about how she couldn’t make it any harder for someone to love her. “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder” feels like her version of Olivia Newton-John’s “Hopelessly Devoted to You” but falls short. 

However, “15 Minutes” is a standout track on the album. The track is catchy and utilizes Carpenter’s signature sense of humor.

The song attempts to mock Carpenter’s critics that allege her commercial success is short-lived through the sarcastic line, “Been here a long time, baby / But gosh, I hope I make it through the night.”

She punches back against the allegations that her rise to popularity is simply her “15 minutes of fame” by joking “I can do a lot in 15 minutes / Lot of pretty boys, lot of funny business… I can do a lot in 15 minutes / Only gonna take two to make you finish.”

The success of both the original and deluxe album prove Carpenter is here to stay. Though “Short n’ Sweet (Deluxe)” fails to live up to the artistry on the original album, Carpenter has clearly left quite an impression and will continue to do so.