Getting straight to the point, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet may not be the most “deep” pop album to grace us recently, but maybe that’s the allure of it. We’ve become so focused on pop stars flirting with artsy alternative swerves and hearing the mainstream court indie audiences with the occasional head-tilting teamup in the studio that we’ve lost sight of how pop music is, in its purest form, best when it operates as a deadly combo of lab-designed songcraft with repeat listen in mind — created by writers who don’t get a fraction of the credit as the massive stars who front the hits, no less — as well as production gurus who make the songs sound superficially immaculate.

Four forgotten Disney-era albums and a proper adulting album later, Carpenter’s sixth full-length effort is the one that sticks to you in a pop music landscape that has been in need of some unabashed innuendo and big personality pulled off flawlessly by a charismatic chanteuse who can seamlessly costume change various outfits from the closets of R&B and dance pop, folk, and country alongside her superstar image with a perfectionist entertainment value. 17-year-olds are afraid of her, and that’s probably the best kind of reaction a pop musician these days should strive for, whether they’re leaving a hell of an impression in their tastes for revenge or providing you a jolt every time they cross your mind.

And at this stage in the game, if you can effortlessly plead the case as to why Jack Antonoff still has a magic touch by combining Musgraves-ian country-pop with lite disco, you’ve already pulled off an impressive fete (though Amy Allen and Julia Michaels are the true powers behind Carpenter’s starmaking affair here, and don’t forget that.)

Highlights: “Taste”, “Please Please Please”, “Good Graces”

Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet is available now on Island Records.

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