Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso”

Every few years, a perfect pop song arrives on the scene that you know will be the song of the summer. We saw it in 2012 with Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” and in Dua Lipa’s 2020 smash “Levitating”. However, Sabrina Carpenter’s viral hit “Espresso” harkens back to the heyday years of the early 2010s when Katy Perry ruled the pop world with such inescapable hits as “Teenage Dream” and “Firework”.

Unlike the aforementioned hits by Carly and Dua, Perry’s music felt like it was engineered in some crazy Swedish lab for maximum exposure and hit potential. In the years since, pure pop music has become a more niche genre with Perry’s acolytes barely cracking the top 40 on the hot 100. Its chart dominance ceded to rap and country, pure pop was relegated to artists who were a bit too outré to be considered viable centrist pop stars, Taylor Swift not withstanding of course.

Like with everything in culture, the pendulum always swings back. In this case, the first few notes in “Espresso” makes it known that this is going to be a major summer anthem. An incredibly addictive hook (kind of like an espresso maybe?) along with Carpenter’s perfect pop voice combine to create a pop masterpiece. You can imagine driving down the highway to the beach with the windows down screaming the now-viral lyric “That's that me espresso". The rest of the song’s lyrics are full of subtle and not so subtle sexual innuendos which is a well-known hallmark of a pop smash.

So, next time you want a pick-me-up, listen to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”. Better yet, try to escape this song this summer! I’m sure it will be playing at your next summer party, wedding, family reunion, and Target visit. It’s fun, frothy pure pop bliss. What more can you ask for? Here’s to hoping Carpenter provides more sunny pop hits in the months and years to come. Judging by her recent hits, I wouldn’t bet against it!