Singular Act I

In the time since Sabrina Carpenter released her last album, 2016’s <i>EVOLution</i>, she’s toured with The Vamps and New Hope Club, released songs with Lost Kings and Jonas Blue, and acted in film and TV projects including George Tillman Jr.’s <i>The Hate U Give</i>. Somehow, in the midst of all that, she recorded a third album—the two-part project <i>Singular</i>—which begins here with a serving of saucy, confident dance-pop. Each song feels like a dramatic episode from her own fabulous life: She jet-sets between romances (“Paris”), sasses an ex (“Bad Time”) and boldly asserts her worth (“Diamonds Are Forever”)—but she doesn’t dwell. Instead, she keeps the focus on her own happiness and self-worth. “Feeling myself can’t be illegal,” she coos on the EDM-lite breakup anthem “Sue Me”, which is delightfully devoid of self-consciousness (“I guess I’m hard to ignore/Pick up that jaw off the floor”). She congratulates herself for dressing up, going out and moving on—and challenges anyone to try and stop her.