“I’m a tyrant!” Pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter on freakish fame combating Disney and writing the hit song of the summer.
After 14 years of being a solitary figure She has since been watched by billions of people as well as censored by BBC and has toured together with Taylor Swift – and she’s still just 25.
It’s hard to believe, but there were summers before Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso came around. The breezy daytime disco track was only released in April, but already it has contributed one brilliantly stupid neologism (“that’s that me espresso”), spent seven weeks at No 1 in the UK and racked up 1bn streams on Spotify. It has also saturated the world’s coffee shops, bars and taxis so thoroughly that it’s a viable contender to be the song of every summer, à la Get Lucky.
A large part of the appeal is the fact that it’s sweet and sugary yet ominously dark in the tone, Carpenter warning the object of her love because her appeal is powerful they could cause him to suffer from insomnia. Carpenter says that when she began creating the song on the day of a holiday in France in July of last year, “it was a manifestation tactic, because no oneliked me romantically at that point – no one was obsessed with me” Carpenter says, while exuding an unintentional laughter. “I had no one that I even talked to. I’ve always been delusional in this sense.”
What an impact does a year make: Carpenter, 25, has taken the popularity of Espresso the single that was her debut taken from her sixth studio album Short’n’Sweet which was released on the 21st of July and has become one of the biggest 2024 pop stars, just a decade since she released her debut single. Today, pop musicians typically have to settle for fame that is niche in comparison to more conventional measures of success, such as sold-out arena tours, chart-topping hits or even household-name recognition. However, Carpenter has all three.
The morning we meet in early June – in the basement of a luxury hotel in Soho, central London; she describes the decor as looking like “they just threw up every pattern in the world” – it has just been announced that Please Please Please, her withering yacht-rock-meets-country follow-up to Espresso, will debut at No 1 on the UK charts, a rarefied new zone for her. She’s not concerned about it. “Full sincerity: I’ve not had a chart until very recently, so it’s an entirely new experience, but … that I’m intrigued. This isn’t the main reason that I compose music and is not the only reason I’ll compose music.” the singer says. “It’s like the sprinkles on top of the sundae.”
Carpenter is one of the popular stars who define the year – such as the Island Records labelmate Chappell Roan and the doyenne of pop experimentation Charli xcx. They appear less slick and distant as the pop stars that came out in the last decade, designed specifically to appeal to the masses . The singer doesn’t have that glossy, media-trained look that is shared by many other child stars of the past (she was one of the original Disney child). Even though she shows up to our interview with the appearance of the human Barbie with a sultry bronzed face and flawlessly coiffed, a Burberry two-piece freshly-pressed and speaks with care and thoughtfully, she’s also quick-witted and able to slap some jokes at the conclusion of a serious sentence or even let loose the most raunchy, playful laughter.
Carpenter’s professional career was exploding for the past couple of years. She parlayed a minor scandal (of which more later) into a couple of catchy viral hits, which led to a support slot on Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, where she charmed fans with manicured-but-screwball performances. However, Espresso appeared to many listeners to appear out of thin air; Carpenter defines the phrase “overnight success 10 years in the making”.
Growing up in small-town Pennsylvania and began her career as an actor for children when she was just 11 years old. She was able to make a name for herself with a part as a character on Girl Meets World, a Disney Channel spin-off of the popular sitcom from the 2000s Boy Meets World, which ran for four years. She signed a contract to work with the Disney’s Hollywood Records. At a very young age she said she was born with the “no plan-B mentality”. She was a hard worker that is required of any aspiring teen star: performances at shopping malls, movies on TV and a tour supporting the infamous British boy group the Vamps. A smirk-inducing photo on the Carpenter’s Wikipedia page shows her photos of signing autographs for US troops when she was 14. The sort of achievements Carpenter is enjoying today were on her bucket lists when she was younger however her “didn’t really know what those goals were and what they entailed”.
“You start to realize the fact that there’s more in it than just blood, sweat and tears, and talent and passion. There are beautiful aspects to all this and also dark, bizarre aspects to it all,” she says. “I simply love it because there’s an desire for it, and when that’s what’s driving you, it isn’t a big deal. You’re just gonna keep going regardless. You’ve heard me called a failure a lot of times, and now we’re here in the middle of nowhere, so …”
Although, Carpenter says, she was aware that the chances that “people wanting to listen to an album by a 13-year-old girl was not super-high” which is why she chose to use the first few years of her professional career as a way for the purpose of “make things and not have to be so critical”. A look through Carpenter’s archive shows Ukulele Folk (Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying) Drama-kid soul (Shadows) and some vaguely Latin-flavoured EDM pop (Looking at me). A few of the songs are cringeworthy however, Carpenter is “allowed a lot of experimentation” by her Disney bosses, and this has influenced her songwriting. It’s got an acerbic, funny side that is a bit sarcastic “I can’t relate to desperation / my give-a-fucks are on vacation” is a couplet from Espresso. It can be incredibly bizarre: Skinny Dipping, a single from 2022, full of bizarrely wordy phrases and humorous portrayals of the suburban lifestyle.
When she reached adulthood, Carpenter says, “people maybe wrote me off, from my past as a Disney kid” However, her fame increased gradually which paved the way for the fame she is experiencing now, complete with associated scrutiny and resentment. “It’s not like you start doing well and everyone loves it and you’re set for life – you reach a certain place you’ve always wanted to be at and then there’s a whole new group of people that want to try to bring you down,” Carpenter explains. For instance she was sued by two former managers for having not paid their salaries. “I was just turning 18. I was like”Oh! I don’t even know how to do!”
She won the case and was able to get a track, Sue Me, out of it. However, the public was more difficult to reach. “When I was a kid, I just wanted to sing on stage and, in that, I hoped to make people happy,” she explains. “And you realize that especially on the internet that if I’m suffering from a bad day or I didn’t sleep enough or had a cup of coffee when I make a comment and my tone is slightly snarky, there are an entire crowd waiting to accuse you of being a bad person. It’s important to stay on the edges of being genuine and securing yourself, which can be a bit of an issue with the mind.”
Carpenter has a personal story to share In 2021, she was made the subject of a lot of thepop fans when she was classified as”the “other woman” in Olivia Rodrigo’s hit song Drivers License. It was a an internet-based drama that was a niche and sophomoric which was a love triangle featuring Rodrigo as well as her ex, Joshua Bassett, and his new love, Carpenter, all three of whom were former Disney stars became mainstream media due to the popularity of Rodrigo’s track.
In terms of scandals this one was pretty light – Carpenter’s one incident was that she dated someone’s ex-partner – yet she was subject to harassment and abuse. (I have been advised by her minders not to inquire about this time period.) She channeled the pain of the ending of her marriage to Bassett along with being subjected to the immense scrutiny that she endured in 2022’s emails I’m Not Able to send. It was technically her fifth album, it was a reset for her career with songs that were humorous, funny, sexy, and depressing in their sorrow. The album also saw her depart Hollywood Records for Island.
“I definitely felt held back where I was,” she states, noting the fact that she “had to fight a little bit” to leave but she claims she’s grateful to her former manager for “allowing me to leave”.
Rodrigo utilized the scandal of love triangles to sell Disney for a brand new image as a heart-on sleeves balladeer, or an indignant pop-punker. Carpenter employed it to redefine herself as a sexy old-school sexpot, whose ballads were as sharp as those of her once-foe’s. Carpenter was aware that Emails will give her to make a new start which is why she decided to open the album by playing Skinny Dipping – one of the most self-consciously weird tracks she’s recorded. “The general public were like: ‘This song is trash!’ But I didn’t want you guys to hear the same thing I’d been doing,” Carpenter explains. “That song was a turning point for me. I’m thrilled and excited to create stories. The only way to do this is through a bizarre structure and some rambling sentences.”
The album’s standout song, combines a hypnotic mix with Hawaii slide guitar, and rap-adjacent song about feeling so excited that you’re unable to speak and it’s a perfect Karaoke track that is a perfect expression of Carpenter’s unique style. It didn’t make it to the top of the charts however, it did make an appearance on TikTok which was helped with the idea that each when Carpenter was performing the song, she would come up with a new tune, usually using the most shady lyrics she could come up with The BBC barred the performance from Radio 1’s Live Lounge following a shady comment she made. made a shady reference regarding the name of the corporation.
Carpenter was not frightened. “Nonsense happened like a storm in my life, so I didn’t really have time to consider one too many dick jokes.” The outros sparked the world to Carpenter’s Espresso moment. Among the filth, they’re extremely silly, and frequently employ creative linguistic techniques. “I’ve written literally 900 outros,” she declares. “I’ve said a lot of provocative things that I don’t do or feel – I need rhymes, I’m running low!” She suggests something similar to Yoko Ono’s screaming song cover to Katy Perry’s Firework: “I’m gonna start doing that.”
Dick jokes probably wouldn’t have been a hit as they supported Swift on her familial Eras tour. Carpenter was not sure “how far to push things: there would be times I did and times [the outros] were super-PG-rated”. However, there was not a fresh scandal, and their tour of 25 dates proved to be inspirational. “Pop songwriting I experienced the same thing each night. And I was amazed by the number of people who were singing along with these tunes.”
Following the tour She then completed Short’n’Sweet that is expected to be a No. 1 hit in both the UK and US Carpenter’s first album to be a chart-topper in either of the territories. Similar to Emails the album is musically diverse and a bit smoky in its style, as Carpenter finds herself “bored of listening to the same song over and over” and enjoys eclectic albums such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band by the Beatles and Beyonce’s Lemonade.
Her lyrics are still witty and witty, which she claims she is grateful to artists like Fiona Apple and SZA. “Not that anything sounds like Fiona Apple, but just the cadence of her songwriting, and how it could make you have to really pay attention, really fascinated me,” she says. SZA’s album Ctrl, on the other hand, radically reshaped Carpenter’s approach to song structure, “because it wasn’t the schoolbook ‘verse/pre-chorus/chorus’ that when I was younger I thought I had to make. Carpenter writes songs based on what she is feeling – and that’s an extremely impressive thing.”
What’s more significant, Carpenter says, is she’s driving the car. Carpenter claims “it’s been many years” since she’s written a song that she didn’t co-write, and believes she’s not able to respond to input from outside. “I’m very lucky that I don’t have people around me telling me what to do – I’m also a Taurus, so if they did, I’d probably get a little stubborn,” she declares. Are she a tyrant in the studio? “I’m a tyrant in life.”
Therefore, a song such as Please Please Please, on which she pleaded with her partner not to make her look embarrassing in public, and perhaps to stay at the hotel when she goes out. When the song was released, a lot of people thought that the song was written by Carpenter’s former boyfriend who was her former boyfriend, Saltburn actor Barry Keoghan, whom she later portrayed in the video of the song. Though I’ve been warned not to inquire into her private life “Get that last question in, baby!” she says whenever I bring up Keoghan towards the end of my time with her. She says that working with Keoghan is “one of the most memorable experience I’ve experienced. I’m extremely grateful and privileged that I was fortunate to work with such an amazing actor!” She screws up her face and mocks her own coy diplomacy in a nasal voice: ” What a fantastic actor!“
The couple was reported to have split. The need to be cautious about the private aspects of her life and admit that some of it may get out into the public domain in the end – isn’t her favorite thing, but she’s accepted it as a fact. “It’s not what I signed up for, but I can’t really help when I was born,” Carpenter admits about her experiences in the age of social media. “I would like to be honest I’d like to simply write about what’s going on in my personal life now as a young girl. However, it’s part of the routine and I’m required to accept that I am … Okay!”