Man's Best Friend＜Blue Cassette＞

サブリナ・カーペンター、通算7作目のアルバムとなる『Man's Best Friend』リリース決定!

『Man's Best Friend』は、マルチな才能を持つ世界的ポップスター、サブリナ・カーペンターの最新アルバムです。グラミー賞受賞アルバム『Short n' Sweet』や数々のマルチプラチナシングルをリリースしてきたカーペンターの最新アルバムには、現在発売中のニューシングル「Manchild」が収録されています。
仕様:スタンダード・ライトブルーカセット

Lets be clear, the title to Sabrina Carpenters seventh album, 2025s Mans Best Friend, is an ironic joke. Its a play on her image as a sexy pop star, but one who is all too aware of the male gaze and whos dated more than one self-involved baby man. That it is also accompanied by a much discussed, probably satirical Helmut Newton-inspired S&M album cover, is a fact that may, in all fairness, rub some fans the wrong way and keep them from digging deeper into the album. Online discourse aside, Mans Best Friend is largely a fun, stylishly delivered follow-up to her 2024 breakthrough Short n Sweet. While that previous effort was technically her sixth, it felt closer to a debut, or at the very least a new start for the former Disney Channel star who came into her own with hits like "Espresso" and "Please Please Please;" songs that believably infused her own cherubic pop charms with the confident swagger of Dolly Parton. Smartly building upon that sound, Carpenter has made a follow-up that finds her settled comfortably into a late-70s/early-80s dance and country-pop sweet spot. Its a vibe that ELOs Jeff Lynne or Buggles Trevor Horn might have had their hand in producing in the past. Here, that vintage-inspired vibe comes courtesy of the main Short n Sweet-production/songwriting team of Jack Antonoff and John Ryan, who help Carpenter evoke artists like Parton and Olivia Newton-John; the latter of whom particularly comes to mind while listening to the album. Primary to this contemporary-meets-throwback vibe is the opening "Manchild," a giddy, smart anthem about the ubiquity of immature men that matches the catchy, endearing heights of Short n Sweet. Full of frothy synth and twangy guitar accents, the song soars on Carpenters blue-sky vocals and perfectly sets up the overall tone of the album. From there we get the Giorgio Moroder-esque disco-R&B grooves of "Tears," "Sugar Talking," and "Never Getting Laid," songs that smartly evoke 70s pop-soul, but which wouldnt sound out of place on a modern K-pop production. All of this is savvily put together, presenting Carpenter as a thinking-persons pop star, both polished and glam but more than willing to show you that shes just as flawed and clumsy as the average girl, especially when it comes to dating and sex. Shes also not afraid to spice things up, expressing playful exasperation that her "slutty pajamas" arent getting her partner in the mood in "My Man on Will Power," or admitting that arguing and making up can sometimes be the erotic, if admittedly toxic fuel to a relationship in "We Almost Broke Up Last Night." Ultimately, Carpenter feels like shes writing from her own relatable experience on Mans Best Friend and while her tongue remains firmly planted in her cheek, the album has plenty of pop bite. ~ Matt Collar

シングル・ヒットが途切れなかったせいで短いスパンのように思ったが、実際は『Short n' Sweet』からちょうど1年ぶりのニュー・アルバム。皮肉を効かせたつもりのジャケが真顔で賛否を呼ぶあたりも現代的だが、それでも全米/全英1位に輝いた先行シングル"Manchild"は過去最高の初動成績だそうで、そういう時代ではある。今回は"Espresso"のジュリアン・ブネッタは不在ながら、引き続きジャック・アントノフとジョン・ライアンがプロデュースし、エイミー・アレンも全曲を共作するなどチームは変わらず。アバやドリー・パートンら先人の作法も衒いなく全吸収した、ズルいほどに隙のないポップ大作だ。
bounce (C)轟ひろみ