By Nell Geraets
If anyone still had doubt about Sabrina Carpenter’s recent meteoric success, this week surely put an end to them. The 25-year-old’s latest single Please Please Please jumped to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first hit to top the charts. This was followed closely by her previous single, Espresso, which managed to remain in the top five (No. 4) despite having been released in April.
But what makes Carpenter’s recent success more interesting is that it’s been a long time coming. She began releasing music 10 years ago while starring in Disney’s Girl Meets World. Since then, she has released five studio albums, with a sixth, Short ‘n’ Sweet, dropping in August. Despite a decade in the industry, Espresso was her first track to break into the Top 10.
This kind of mid-career success is taking place across the pop landscape. Queer pop diva Chappell Roan signed with Atlantic Records when she was 17, and was later dropped. Last September, at 25, she finally burst into the mainstream with The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. It was the first of her albums to reach the Billboard 200, reaching No. 10 nine months after its release.
Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter (left to right) are bringing us the fun, slutty pop we’ve been missing.Credit: Compiled by Monique Westermann.
31-year-old British singer Charli XCX has enjoyed a niche, cult fan base for over a decade, however, she began to creep back into the limelight last year after releasing Speed Drive for the Barbie soundtrack, her first single to reach the US charts in 10 years. Since then, she has earned her biggest first week post-release with Brat, an energetic, slightly off-kilter masterpiece that has garnered glowing reviews.
Carpenter, Roan and Charli clearly aren’t emerging artists, so why are they only dominating now?
There’s no shortage of new content, with pop royalty like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé and Dua Lipa releasing new albums. Those more recent releases sound very different to the music being made by the newer crop of breakthroughs. They’re softer and more introspective, designed for headphones rather than raves.
The critical consensus is that the major pop stars of the moment are just not delivering the sexy, fun pop many of us miss.
Artists like Carpenter have helped fill that void. Espresso is both massively danceable and hilarious, bamboozling listeners with tongue-in-cheek lyrics like “switch it up like Nintendo” and downright illogical ones (“that’s, that me espresso”).
Roan similarly fills her tracks with wit and silliness (“So baby, let’s get freaky, get kinky / Let’s make this bed get squeaky”). However, her candid lyrics around queer relationships, such as in her more earnest ballad Casual, is what makes Roan’s music truly sparkle. It’s a refreshing departure from traditional self-acceptance anthems, leaning more into queerness as a fact of life.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, former Capitol Music Group chief executive Michelle Jubelirer says much of their sudden success probably comes down to their attitude. “They’re all incredibly strong, independent women who are a little brash and who build worlds and remain authentically themselves. It’s like, ‘We’re done with the bulls–t. Accept us for who we are, or f— you.’”
Granted, Swift’s Tortured Poets Department and Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft are unapologetically revelatory albums. But they are occasionally so biographical that they become inaccessible to the general listener. Conversely, Espresso and Roan’s Red Wine Supernova are forms of sonic joy anyone can appreciate, while still having depth.
Charli XCX has similarly mastered this balance, featuring rave bangers like 365 alongside more introspective hits like i think about it all the time, which explores the anxieties of motherhood as a celebrity.
Artists like Swift definitely helped pave the way. After all, Carpenter opened for Swift during the Asian leg of her Eras Tour, and Roan opened for Olivia Rodrigo during the GUTS World Tour, propelling both into more mainstream spaces. But they’re reshaping the landscape to suit their strengths rather than simply following suit.
Carpenter cleverly develops cheeky outros for each live performance of Nonsense, a tradition perfect for TikTok virality. Roan dresses in drag on-stage, demonstrating her knowledge and appreciation of pop history. Charli XCX refuses to polish her pop, allowing verses to trail on for a beat too long, creating a whacky, almost conversational tone.
This trio is making music for themselves. It’s simply a bonus that the masses like it. Whether they’ll transform pop as we know it into a more energised, experimental genre, only time will tell. But for now, we can just “thank thank thank” artists like Carpenter for bringing the bops back.