The fifth studio album from singer and actress
Sabrina Carpenter
, 2022's
Emails I Can't Send
is as charmingly ebullient as it is candid. Her first full-length release since moving to
Island Records
, the record builds nicely upon the upbeat dance-pop of her early work while also displaying her growing strength and honesty as a songwriter. It also finds her drawing inspiration from the classic singer/songwriter style of artists like
Carly Simon
and
Carole King
while fitting well alongside the contemporary work of artists like
Conan Gray
. Much of the album is loosely conceptualized around emails she wrote to herself. For example, the title track, "Emails I Can't Send," is a yearning piano ballad in which a daughter excoriates her father for his infidelity to her mother. Similarly, "Vicious" is a hooky, acoustic guitar-driven anthem in which
Carpenter
addresses her quiet anguish over a particularly toxic relationship. More upbeat is "Read Your Mind," in which she ruminates on a wishy-washy lover on a hooky track that evokes the sparkling disco-pop of
the Cardigans
. With
,
has crafted a record that reflects her emotional maturity five albums into her career, which also feels like a refreshing new start. ~ Matt Collar