Sabrina Carpenter‘s Grammy-winning album, Short n’ Sweet, is different from her previous album, Emails I Can’t Send, and she says it’s all because of one particular song.
The song, which hasn’t been released as a single, is “Dumb & Poetic,” about a guy who masks his shortcomings with New Age trappings like mushrooms, meditation and self-help books. “That song is the reason why the album is the album,” she tells Vogue for a March cover story.
Sabrina’s co-writer, Amy Allen, tells Vogue that “Dumb & Poetic” and “Espresso” were the “two massive goalposts” in creating the album. Sabrina notes, “I was writing all these sad songs, and ‘Espresso’ was like the one breath of fresh air. In the midst of all of it, I was like, This is still such a huge part of me — this mentality and the sense of humor and the playfulness.”
As a result, Sabrina says, “Short n’ Sweet is absolutely me. There’s no, like, alter ego. But it’s definitely a more emphasized version of me.”
And speaking of alter egos, Sabrina also created a video feature for Vogue called The Short Report — a parody in which she plays every member of a news team, including Serena Carpen-Terra, Christina Barbenter and Regina Harpenter, as well as herself. In one scene, she plays interviewer Katrina Sharpenter, accusing herself — Sabrina Carpenter — of running a “nationwide cult.”
“They’re called fans,” Sabrina replies. When Katrina says there have been reports that Sabrina’s “coerced” her followers with “hypnosis,” Sabrina replies, “Those are pop songs.”
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