The recent rise of a new set of female pop stars likeSabrina Carpenteris something that the Westernmusicindustry has been missing for years. We’ve had no shortage of fantastic releases from Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Beyoncé, but it’s comforting to know that their legacies are actively being carried on by the next generation of artists.Thanks to opening gigs on Swift’s Eras Tour, viral moments at music festivals, and unforgettable debut singles, young women like Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Olivia Rodrigo are leading the charge.
Of all of these artists, Carpenter’s rise feels the most noteworthy. The short and sweetpop princessisn’t new to the music scene. At a young age, she released Christmas covers, starred in Disney Channel’sGirl Meets World, and released her debut studio album in 2015. Now, she’s one of the biggest acts in pop music with a career that isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
With the release of her latest single, “Manchild,” it feels like a new era is on the horizon. Over the course ofCarpenter’s eight-album careerthus far, including two deluxe versions, she has put out nine lead singles, each ushering in a new wave of her musical evolution. Below is my ranking of these singles based onhow well they introduce their respective albums and how they’ve aged since their release, including “Manchild.”
9Pushing 20
Singular Act II (2019)
Carpenter’s 2019 album,Singular Act II, was a continuation of herSingularduology, both including some of her earlier hits that fans still adore. This album’s lead single oozes confidence, a staple of what her music would later evolve into, but “Pushing 20” is far from the strongest track.It’s a marker of the end of her teenage years, celebrating this milestone with proclamations of cutting out negativity and those who attempt to control her creativity and happiness.
Once I gave this track a listen for the first time in years, I noticed similarities toAriana Grande’s “7 Rings.” The attitude and the rap-like delivery of the verses made it an easy comparison. It’s a fun song that’s addictive if you listen enough times, butit doesn’t have the same authenticity found in a track like “Exhale,“a continuous standout in her discography. “Looking at Me” was the song that would eventually blow up on this album, but I understand why “Pushing 20” was her first invitation into this album’s world.
8Busy Woman
Short N' Sweet (Deluxe) (2025)
After all the success she saw with her 2024 album,Short n' Sweet, Carpenter returned with five deluxe tracks, including a duet of “Please Please Please” withcountry queen Dolly Parton. The lead single from this deluxe release that’s still making waves on radio is “Busy Woman.” She doubles down on the themes of “Please Please Please” and “Good Graces,” stating that it’s her choice whether she invites someone new into her life and their fault if things don’t work out.
As one of the biggest names in music, it’s no surprise that she’s such a busy woman.The lead single for a deluxe version doesn’t have to do much heavy liftingunless it represents another album-length extension.I think “Busy Woman” was a great choice to promote on its own, but I don’t think it adds anything fresh to the album as a whole. A song like “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder” or “Bad Reviews” would have been my choice.
7Almost Love
Singular Act I (2018)
Singular Act Iintroduced fans to songs like “Sue Me,” “Paris,” and “Mona Lisa,” but its lead single is still a solid choice. “Almost Love” is a teasing track about building an attraction to someone into something more. Carpenter’s voice sounds incredible on it, particularly in the chorus, andthe song as a whole has a very distinct 2018 sound to it, like that of Madison Beer. The music video sees her delivering choreography in exquisite styling and eventually turning her lover to stone after one kiss.
It gets the energy across successfully without giving too much away.
I like “Almost Love” as this album’s lead single. I think it gets the energy across successfully without giving too much away and pulls the listener in just enough to want to know what else she has up her sleeve. My only personal gripe is that whistle sound that permeates every pre-chorus. Everything else is great, but that noise just takes me out of the song every time and I don’t understand why it was necessary. As a single, however, it does what it needs to do.
6Can’t Blame A Girl For Trying
Eyes Wide Open (2015)
Carpenter’s debut studio album,Eyes Wide Open, is filled with teenage regrets, honesty, and genuinely great music. I remember loving this album when it came out, and I’m happy to report that it still gives me that same joy it did a decade ago. “Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying” is about the cycle we find ourselves in as we experience our first crushes and all the things we get wrong. When she sings “‘cause I’m young/And I’m dumb/I do stupid things when it comes to love,” there’sa nagging self-awareness that one only has when they’re young.
And I think sometimes
I tend to be my own worst enemy
And maybe someday
I’m gonna catch a shooting star falling out of the blue
Doing what I do
This album is largely written by writers other than Carpenter, but the lyrics to this track feel like statements she would make. As the lead single, it’s charming enough to make her younger fan base at the time excited about the album while also being a sweet song on its own. It completely captures the feeling ofEyes Wide Openand still holds up to this day.
5On Purpose
EVOLution (2016)
EVOLutionis easily one of Carpenter’s most underrated albums. “Thumbs” was her first breakout hit, but"On Purpose” was the track that eased listeners into the album.It’s a dramatic song both lyrically and sonically, with a piano instrumental that builds into an explosive chorus perfectly capitalizing off of the dance track craze of 2016. I wasn’t sure where to rank it at first, but that bridge still gets me every time and made my job much easier.
“Thumbs” could have easily been the lead single forEVOLution. It had an edge to it that separated it from any other song in her discography and continues to hold its place as a fan-favorite. That being said,I think “On Purpose” was a perfect choice. Rather than giving listeners the most experimental track right off the bat, they lured them in with a more digestible yet unique song that welcomed her sophomore album.
Manchild (Single) (2025)
In an Instagram caption describing her latest single, “Manchild,“Carpentersaid:
It sounds like the song embodiment of a loving eye roll and it feels like a never-ending road trip in the summer! Hence why I wanted to give it to you now - so you can stick your head out the car window and scream it all summer long!
“Manchild” takes the country twang of “Slim Pickins,” the comedic line delivery of “Bed Chem,” and the brutally honest tone of “Please Please Please” to create a track thatperfectly concludes theShort n’ Sweetera while also ushering in her next wave of hits. As usual, she doesn’t shy away from taking direct hits at her exes. She touches on an epidemic that has plagued women for centuries: the manchild, and also removes all blame from herself for their behavior (as she should).
It’s uncertain if this single will lead to her eventual seventh studio album or not, but either way, I already can’t wait for what she does next. It’s a perfect in-between single that is sure to hold fans over for a while. All hail the reigning queen of summer hits.
3Espresso
Short N' Sweet (2024)
Where would the Sabrina Carpenter we all know and love today be without “Espresso”? It’s a question I don’t even want to attempt to answer. Her team choosing to release this lead single in mid-April seemed a bit early to be a contender for 2024’s song of the summer, but once the weather warmed up, there was no stopping Carpenter’s meteoric rise.
You can’t have Short n' Sweet without “Espresso.”
It’s a song full of memorable lyrics that are still stuck in our heads over a year later. With a noticeable lack of summer hits going into June,it would make all the sense in the world for the season to be owned by the same talented blonde once again. At the time of this single’s release, and in the months that followed, it wasn’t apparent if an album would follow or not. Once it did, “Espresso” fit right in. Within the full track list, it tends to get a little overshadowed, especially lyrically, but you may’t haveShort n' Sweetwithout “Espresso.”
2skinny dipping
emails i can’t send (2022)
Of all the songs on this list, “skinny dipping” is the most underrated. Written with JP Saxe, Leroy Clampitt, and Julia Michaels, this track revealed yetanother layer to the creativity she had already presented over the last decade of her ever-growing musical career. It takes on the cadence of Michaels' usual sound, but allows enough room for Carpenter’s voice to shine through fully.
Upon its release, “skinny dipping” was met with mixed reviews.Fans weren’t expecting this almost spoken-word melody from her, but they would come around eventually.Personally, I think this is one of her most cinematic songs. It presents the themes ofemails i can’t sendin a creative way, creating a movie in listeners' minds that walks them through a digestible version of the stories she’s about to share in more detail on songs like “because i liked a boy” and “decode.” It was divisive at the time, but it aged so well as the album’s lead single.
1Feather
emails i can’t send fwd: (2023)
The deluxe version ofemails i can’t sendincluded four new tracks, each of which offered its own version of closure from the relationships she had just finished detailing for listeners over the course of 39 minutes. This version’s promotional single, “Feather,“introduced us to the Carpenter who would go on to burst through the pop music scene with “Espresso.”
If you listen to it enough on its own, it sounds like a song fromShort n' Sweet. That’s enough to place it at the top of this list. Without a single like “Feather,” and the success that came from its inclusion in her memorable Coachella set, we might not have heard the snappy, catchy lyrics she’d become known for. This song is the conclusion that theSabrina Carpenteronemails i can’t senddeserved. She’s moving on, whether you like it or not.
