Top 8 Sabrina Carpenter tracks you can’t miss

The multi-hyphenate Sabrina Carpenter started pursuing a career as an entertainer within the industry when she started at a relatively early age, originally making her on-camera debut as a guest star on the series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2011.

She received her breakout some several years later, having made lead debuts with Disney Channel shows Girl Meets World (2014 -2017), where she was exposed to wider audiences and helped get her on the pop culture radar.

At the same time, she also started her music career under Hollywood Records with a soulful single, Can't Blame a Girl for Trying, in 2014. From the very beginning, it was clear that Sabrina was not merely a Disney actress; she was laying the ground for a multi-faceted career.

Sabrina Carpenter has been quietly amassing her own pop brand over the past couple of years, combining irresistible hooks with a saucy, take-no-prisoners attitude of her own. With showstoppers like Espresso, Nonsense, and Sue Me percolating and scoring chart pulls, especially on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart, she's proved that she's got an ear for creating hits that saturate playlists and dance floors.

Through releases such as Eyes Wide Open and Evolution, there's a definite coming of age in tone and content, mirroring her development from teen idol to full-fledged pop force.

Her energetic live performances have even landed her opening acts for international giants such as Taylor Swift, as well as memorable performances at larger-than-life events such as the VMAs and Coachella, where her stage presence and voice steal the spotlight just as much as her music.

Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's opinion. The reader's discretion is advised!

1) Espresso

Espresso, the chart-topper on top of Sabrina Carpenter's 2024 release Short n' Sweet, has risen to become an anthem of the year, and one it deserves. Its frenetic cocktail of synth-pop sheen, funky bassline rhythmicity, and touch of disco spark, the song bursts with big, playful energy that can't be avoided.

Its teasing lyrics and confident, laid-back delivery prove Sabrina Carpenter's mastery of the blending of humor, charm, and empowerment into a single catch-all.

The video by Dave Meyers is a pastel-colored, retro beach style that reinforces the lightness of the song with bright images and a cheeky attitude. Other than its lavish production and cinematographic visual aesthetic, Espresso is also a career peak for Sabrina Carpenter, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and establishing her as an emerging pop phenomenon.

It's not just a hit song; it's a work of artistic maturity, independence, and superstardom, symbolizing the mood of summer and placing Sabrina Carpenter's evolution as an artist and vocalist in current pop into perspective.

2) Taste

Released in 2024 on her Short n' Sweet album, Taste is a keenly edged pop anthem that blends sweet melodies and sharp wit, demonstrating Sabrina Carpenter's gift for storytelling through attitude. Beneath its memorable production is a narrative infused with jealousy, competitiveness, and a poisonous romantic triangle as Sabrina Carpenter dissects lyrically the notion of an individual being haunted by the taste, or memory, of an old flame.

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The glossy sheen of the song is contrasted nicely with its darker lyrical undertow, making what might have been an ordinary breakup song into something richer and more incendiary. A further twist of intrigue is delivered by the extravagantly theatrical music video, starring Jenna Ortega, which goes for full-on horror-comedy with the over-the-top gross-out and violence of emotional revenge played very much for laughs.

With imagery that dissolves into a nightmare, the visual style brings the song's themes of obsession and comparison into a camp spectacle. Fans immediately gravitated to its supposed real-life inspiration, theorizing it is about a high-profile romance between Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, creating more interest in the song's emotional source.

Although Sabrina Carpenter has not denied the rumors, she is well aware of how to use ambiguity and drama to keep the spotlight squarely on herself. Taste is not only a song; it's a masterfully packaged pop moment where music, storytelling, and visual narrative intersect in all the correct ways.

3) Feather

Feather, the standout from Sabrina Carpenter's 2023 album Emails I Can't Send, is a career high point, a couple of seconds of empowerment and vulnerability. Instead of just recording heartbreak, the song flips it, instead basking in the emotional maturity and freedom that result from booting out a bad relationship.

Sabrina Carpenter floats over despair; she dances atop it, using sharp wit and her singing harmonies to express a sense of freedom both intimate and epic.

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The album's hit success, peaking at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Pop Airplay chart, spurred her rising dominance of the pop universe and was a standard commercially and artistically. Another feature that made Feather stand out was its creepy, attention-grabbing video by Mia Barnes.

The video oozed gothic atmosphere and dark humor and re-enacted the song's message in terms of cinema and recreated Sabrina Carpenter as a talented vocalist and songwriter as much as she was a talented visual artist, not shy about going against visual and narrative convention.

Feather is not just a break-up record; it's a freedom ballad, a rebellious step towards personal expansion, and the promise that freedom can be the best.

4) Please Please Please

Please Please Please, a highlight edit from Sabrina Carpenter's 2024 album Short n' Sweet, is a shift for her musical persona, irreverent, sharp, and knowing. Jack Antonoff-produced, the track mashes up shimmering disco rhythms with the barest hint of country spice, creating a song that's both vintage and decidedly forward-thinking.

Lyrically, Sabrina Carpenter walks the very fine edge of vulnerability and gallows humor in exploring the chaos of an unhappy love affair, using language as ripe for being memes as it is emotionally keen. The song's beauty lies in this balance: it's earthy and glamorous, flirtatious and frustrated.

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A second layer of storytelling is the saucy music video, starring actor Barry Keoghan, who was her boyfriend at that time. The chemistry between them on screen turns the song into a drama, a satire really, of madness and love, and Sabrina's ability, yet again, to take intimate moments and turn them into pop gold.

Rather than being simply a hit single on the radio, Please Please Please is actually a cultural snapshot, witty, knowing, and irresistibly catchy, one of the trademark songs of her current period.

5) Nonsense

Nonsense, from Sabrina Carpenter's 2022 album Emails I Can't Send, is not merely a fan favorite but a career best. Written with Steph Jones and Julian Bunetta, producers and co-authors, the song combines sassy wordplay, hook-friendly hooks, and an energetic sound that drives Sabrina Carpenter's current swagger and artistic precision.

Its sarcastic, poking stage presence belies a highly acute sense of songwriting, being both carefree and outright masterful all at once.

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What actually sent Nonsense viral into the stratosphere, however, was Sabrina Carpenter's masterful use of live performances, in which she began improvising fresh outro lyrics every night, reworking the song into a live inside joke with her audience. This live performance twist turned it into a TikTok sensation and reminded her of a singer who not only sings vocally but also knows how to establish a personal connection with listeners.

Rather than play it safe with tried and tested pop formulas, Nonsense bears witness to Sabrina Carpenter's smartness at distilling slick production with off-the-cuff allure and proving she's not averse to fiddling with her art. Its success relied on nothing of figures or listens; it was an issue of personality, timing, and an artist who just happened to have unapologetic humor.

6) Because I Liked a Boy

Appearing as part of her 2022 album Emails I Can't Send, Because I Liked a Boy ranks as one of Sabrina Carpenter's most emotionally intense and thematically ambitious songs to date. Written with JP Saxe, Julia Michaels, and John Ryan, the song doesn't hold back in confronting the public outrage and brutal criticism Sabrina Carpenter faced after a very public romance, which was speculated to be linked to the Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo storyline.

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Instead of going defensive on the subject, however, Sabrina Carpenter goes the other way, providing an honest, almost diary-like description of what it's like to be demonized for merely getting feelings. With searing lines such as "I'm a homewrecker, I'm a sl*t, I got death threats fillin' up semi-trucks," she lays bare the stupidity and brutality of online controversy and also reclaims her own voice in a story that was so often spoken about her instead of by her.

The production stays fairly subdued, permitting her voice and narrative to dominate as the song builds with frustration, despair, and a subdued defiance. Released with a visually beautiful music video on July 15, 2022, the single takes a moment of real-world anarchy and turns it into one that is introspective and uplifting.

It's not only a breakup song; it's a searing commentary on the price of fame, misogyny in media storytelling, and the courage it takes to tell your truth when the world is trying to drown you out.

7) Thumbs

Released in 2017 as a highlight single from her sophomore album Evolution, Thumbs is a standard by which Sabrina Carpenter's musical development can be measured, lyrics included. It eschews pop convention, instead opting to pound out at 135 BPM on a bouncy beat supported by a complex chord progression that lends gravity to the song's sparse production.

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But what really distinguishes Thumbs is its message: a gritty, near-theatrical denunciation of banality and conformity. With witty lyricism and rhythmic phrasing, Sabrina Carpenter forcefully evokes those trapped in a whirlpool of the mundane, represented by the whirly motion of twiddling thumbs. Her voice glides from sultry lows to searing highs, from F3 to G5, infusing emotional depth into a technically superb and expressively rich performance.

Instead of hiding in the glossy pop sheen that characterized her earlier work, Thumbs is a gutsy step forward, both sonically adventurous and ideologically heavy. It's an album that invites listeners to be themselves and revel in their uniqueness, all set against the backdrop of a snappy, danceable beat.

The power of the song lies in the ability to make someone think without having their feet planted firmly on the ground, thus depriving one of Sabrina Carpenter's most enduring moments in her repertoire.

8) Sue Me

Sue Me, the standout of Sabrina Carpenter's 2018 album Singular: Act I, is a bold and unapologetic reimagining of her artistic identity. By Sabrina Carpenter and Steph Jones, the song taps the emotional reservoir of redefining one's sense of self after a toxic relationship. It's a battle cry for independence, shrouded in hooky pop and EDM-splashed production from Warren "Oak" Felder, whose beat propels Sabrina Carpenter's soaring vocals to new heights.

The bass-pounding, high-energy riffs are the same as the song's hard, assertive lyrics, a battle cry for anyone having the courage to shake off the negativity and take the reins of their own narrative. The visual accompaniment, directed by Lauren Dunn and starring Joey King and Sergio D'arcy Lane, is spot-on with the song's message, using cinematic storytelling to advance the narrative of self-empowerment.

The tongue-in-cheek, defiant brashness of Sue Me captures Sabrina's brash approach to living and creating, her rebirth from rising pop star to artist who refuses to be contained. From the sassy, attention-grabbing hook to the bold visual symbolism, Sue Me is a career standout for Sabrina Carpenter, a defiant declaration of power and byproduct of her emergence as an artist who will not be contained.

Sabrina Carpenter's songs are the best of pop hooks and personal lyrics combined, each song highlighting another aspect of her music. From the inspirational anthems to the intensely personal ballads, her songs always find a way to show her development as an artist and a person. Whether she's luxuriating in independence and its freedom, navigating the complexities of love, or exposing her chameleon chops as a vocalist, Sabrina sings music that's familiar and inspiring.

Her ease with shifting from style to style, from pop to electronic dance music to intermittent indie, assists in setting her apart from the constantly shifting face of pop music. As she grows up and challenges what she can do with music, Sabrina's music will no doubt reflect that of herself and her unstoppable will to create music that affects the hearts and minds of people worldwide.