# Man's Best Friend (Sabrina Carpenter album)
**Man's Best Friend** is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter [Sabrina Carpenter](https://www.edgepedia.org/sabrina-carpenter), released on August 29, 2025 through [Island Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/island-records).[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mans-best-friend-mw0004551663) It is the follow-up to *Short n' Sweet* (August 2024), arriving just over a year after that breakthrough record.[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/mans-best-friend/1819861154) The album runs 12 tracks over 38 minutes,[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mans-best-friend-mw0004551663) frames a breakup across its tracklist, and drew wide attention for its original cover art, which depicts [Carpenter](https://www.edgepedia.org/carpenter) on all fours while a suited man grips her hair.[3](https://apnews.com/article/1f3bd6c87b64bc3329e7e7c94f034083)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist / album | Seventh studio album by Sabrina Carpenter[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mans-best-friend-mw0004551663) |
| Release | August 29, 2025, Island Records[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mans-best-friend-mw0004551663) |
| Length and track count | 12 tracks, 38:20[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mans-best-friend-mw0004551663) |
| Singles | "Manchild" (lead, debuted June at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100); "Tears" followed with the album[3](https://apnews.com/article/1f3bd6c87b64bc3329e7e7c94f034083) • [4](https://ifann.net/wiki/album/mans-best-friend) |
| Main collaborators | Jack Antonoff, John Ryan (production), Amy Allen (co-writing)[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend/) • [2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/mans-best-friend/1819861154) |
| Chart peak (single) | "Manchild" topped charts in the US, UK, and Ireland[4](https://ifann.net/wiki/album/mans-best-friend) |
| Awards | Six Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year; "Manchild" also nominated for Song of the Year[6](https://au.variety.com/2025/music/features/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend-backlash-taylor-swift-30627/) • [7](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/wed-look-at-each-other-like-oh-my-god-are-we-going-to-say-that-ok-were-going-to-say-that-the-hysterical-songwriting-sessions-with-sabrina-carpenter-that-propelled-amy-allen-to-four-grammy-nominations) |
| Critical score | 7.9 from Pitchfork[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend/) |
## Background and release
Carpenter spent the decade after her debut single, 2014's "[Can't Blame a Girl for Trying](https://www.edgepedia.org/cant-blame-a-girl-for-trying)," building toward mainstream pop stardom, which arrived in 2024 when the singles "Espresso" and "Please, Please, Please" launched her into a new realm of fame. Her sixth album, *Short n' Sweet* (August 2024), earned her first two Grammys, for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance.[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/mans-best-friend/1819861154) *Man's Best Friend* was announced in June 2025 for release on August 29 of that year.[8](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2025/06/11/two-time-grammy-award-winning-global-superstar-sabrina-carpenter-announces-new-album-mans-best-friend-coming-august-29/)
## Music and production
The album continues the concise 12-track format of *Short n' Sweet* and draws on Carpenter's love of 1970s disco, with snarky, self-deprecating charisma throughout.[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/mans-best-friend/1819861154) AllMusic classifies it as pop and contemporary pop/rock, including dance-pop.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mans-best-friend-mw0004551663) She made the album primarily with [Jack Antonoff](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-antonoff) and John Ryan, the main production and songwriting team behind *Short n' Sweet*; Antonoff brought his Bleachers bandmates into the studio for nearly every song, Bobby Hawk contributed strings, and lap steel player Greg Leisz played guitar and phin, a type of lute, on "Manchild."[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend/) • [9](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/sabrina-carpenter-new-album-mans-best-friend-takeaways/)
Several songs nod explicitly to disco history. "Tears" boogies to a nu-disco strain Pitchfork locates in the two-year window between [Diana Ross](https://www.edgepedia.org/diana-ross)'s *Diana* and Evelyn "Champagne" King's *Get Loose*, and "My Man on Willpower" is one of the album's glitter-dusted ABBA homages.[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend/) The opening track, "Manchild," is country-tinged and co-written with Antonoff and Amy Allen, taking aim at the incompetent, unavailable men Carpenter says she cannot seem to shake.[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/mans-best-friend/1819861154)
## Songs and themes
The album is structured as a breakup record. Where *Short n' Sweet* celebrated the start of a romance, *Man's Best Friend* tracks its undoing: the fighting, the split, and the rebound. Following "Manchild," tracks such as "Tears" and "My Man on Willpower" catalog disappointment in her man; "Sugar Talking" and "We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night" lead toward the breakup song "Nobody's Son"; and later tracks like "[When Did You Get Hot?](https://www.edgepedia.org/when-did-you-get-hot)" and "House Tour" find Carpenter back on the market. The Associated Press noted there is a mention of sex in nearly every one of the album's 12 tracks.[3](https://apnews.com/article/1f3bd6c87b64bc3329e7e7c94f034083) The Recording Academy's review observed that while there is no traditional heartbreak ballad, every track charts someone grieving a relationship.[10](https://www.grammy.com/news/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend-review-new-album-takeaways/)
The lyrics are rarely specific enough to pin to one person, which disappointed listeners expecting a tell-all about the dissolution of her relationship with actor [Barry Keoghan](https://www.edgepedia.org/barry-keoghan).[9](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/sabrina-carpenter-new-album-mans-best-friend-takeaways/) AllMusic reads the title itself as an ironic joke playing on her image as a sexy pop star who is all too aware of the male gaze.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mans-best-friend-mw0004551663)
## Cover art controversy
The original cover, revealed with the album announcement in June 2025, shows Carpenter on all fours in a black dress and heels while a suited man stands by grabbing a fistful of her hair.[3](https://apnews.com/article/1f3bd6c87b64bc3329e7e7c94f034083) Reaction divided sharply: some read the image as cheeky and ironic, in line with the satirical stance of "Manchild," while others accused the former [Disney Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-channel) star of promoting sexist stereotypes and catering to the male gaze.[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-06-25/sabrina-carpenter-backlash-cover-mans-best-friend-new-art) • [12](https://dailycampus.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TDC_SEPT32025.pdf) On June 25, 2025, Carpenter posted an alternate cover on Instagram, a black-and-white shot in which she stands and clutches a man's arm, introducing it with the joke that the artwork was "approved by God."[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-06-25/sabrina-carpenter-backlash-cover-mans-best-friend-new-art) • [13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy7Bnhwnz90) The original cover was not replaced; both versions remained available.[14](https://elpais.com/gente/2025-06-27/sabrina-carpenter-responde-a-las-criticas-a-la-provocativa-portada-de-su-nuevo-album-con-una-alternativa-aprobada-por-dios.html)
The controversy followed the album into year-end retrospectives: the Associated Press called it "the album cover that launched a thousand conversations" in its 2025 pop culture roundup.[15](https://apnews.com/article/982ef704e34b8887d03798ad615ef8e3)
## Reception
Pitchfork scored the album 7.9, with critic Walden Green writing that it delivers "formally classic, facepalm-clever pop songs with a heavy wink" and takes the Sabrina persona to its apex.[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend/) The Guardian's review headlined the record as "smut and stunning craft from pop's best in show."[16](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/aug/29/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend-review) Sputnikmusic's reviewer judged it a stronger project than its predecessor, arguing that doubling down on her cheeky, suggestive writing style lets Carpenter abandon her past lyrical anonymity.[17](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/90066/Sabrina-Carpenter-Mans-Best-Friend/) The Recording Academy noted that where *Short n' Sweet* was filled with radio-friendly singles, *Man's Best Friend* is less commercial and more sonically cohesive.[10](https://www.grammy.com/news/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend-review-new-album-takeaways/)
On the commercial side, "Manchild" topped charts in the US, UK, and Ireland,[4](https://ifann.net/wiki/album/mans-best-friend) and in the 2026 Grammy cycle the album received six nominations, including Album of the Year.[6](https://au.variety.com/2025/music/features/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend-backlash-taylor-swift-30627/) Songwriter Amy Allen, a frequent Carpenter co-writer, earned four Grammy nominations in that cycle, with "Manchild" her second Song of the Year nominee.[7](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/wed-look-at-each-other-like-oh-my-god-are-we-going-to-say-that-ok-were-going-to-say-that-the-hysterical-songwriting-sessions-with-sabrina-carpenter-that-propelled-amy-allen-to-four-grammy-nominations)
## References
1. [Man's Best Friend – Sabrina Carpenter, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mans-best-friend-mw0004551663)
2. [Man's Best Friend – Album by Sabrina Carpenter, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/mans-best-friend/1819861154)
3. [Music Review: Sabrina Carpenter's 'Man's Best Friend' is a sincere but still sexy breakup album, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/1f3bd6c87b64bc3329e7e7c94f034083)
4. [Man's Best Friend by Sabrina Carpenter, iFANN](https://ifann.net/wiki/album/mans-best-friend)
5. [Sabrina Carpenter: Man's Best Friend Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend/)
6. [Sabrina Carpenter's Wild Year of 'Man's Best Friend', Variety](https://au.variety.com/2025/music/features/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend-backlash-taylor-swift-30627/)
7. [The "hysterical" songwriting sessions with Sabrina Carpenter, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/wed-look-at-each-other-like-oh-my-god-are-we-going-to-say-that-ok-were-going-to-say-that-the-hysterical-songwriting-sessions-with-sabrina-carpenter-that-propelled-amy-allen-to-four-grammy-nominations)
8. [Two-Time Grammy Award Winning Global Superstar Sabrina Carpenter Announces New Album, Universal Music Canada](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2025/06/11/two-time-grammy-award-winning-global-superstar-sabrina-carpenter-announces-new-album-mans-best-friend-coming-august-29/)
9. [5 Takeaways From Sabrina Carpenter's New Album Man's Best Friend, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/sabrina-carpenter-new-album-mans-best-friend-takeaways/)
10. [Sabrina Carpenter Proves Her Staying Power With 'Man's Best Friend', Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/news/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend-review-new-album-takeaways/)
11. [Sabrina Carpenter reveals new 'Man's Best Friend' cover amid backlash, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-06-25/sabrina-carpenter-backlash-cover-mans-best-friend-new-art)
12. [Daily Campus, September 3, 2025](https://dailycampus.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TDC_SEPT32025.pdf)
13. [Sabrina Carpenter Unveils Alternate 'Man's Best Friend' Cover, The Hollywood Reporter (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy7Bnhwnz90)
14. [Sabrina Carpenter responde a las críticas a la portada de su nuevo álbum, El País](https://elpais.com/gente/2025-06-27/sabrina-carpenter-responde-a-las-criticas-a-la-provocativa-portada-de-su-nuevo-album-con-una-alternativa-aprobada-por-dios.html)
15. [Pop culture in 2025, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/982ef704e34b8887d03798ad615ef8e3)
16. [Sabrina Carpenter: Man's Best Friend review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/aug/29/sabrina-carpenter-mans-best-friend-review)
17. [Sabrina Carpenter – Man's Best Friend album review, Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/90066/Sabrina-Carpenter-Mans-Best-Friend/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Pop albums › 2020s albums › Albums by American artists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license