“Genius” is a word that should be reserved for brilliant scientists and whoever created Dairy Queen’s brownie earthquake. When the word gets tossed around as a descriptor for anything other than Darwin or Dilly Bars, it makes me irrationally angry. Genius, huh? So words just have no meaning anymore—got it. I’ll file that away with “iconic” losing all significance, what with it applied online to classic films as often as it is to Lady Gaga’s flying dress barely floating two inches off the ground on one random day in 2013.
I am, however, reconsidering my stance now that Sabrina Carpenter has defied even my own high standards for prodigiousness. With her latest single, “Espresso,” the 24-year-old pop singer has fully come into the cheeky, overly literal lyricism and slinky throwback sounds that her debut album, Emails I Can’t Send, promised last year. The single, released last Friday seemingly as a one-off gift to her fans before her first of two Coachella performances, is funky, flirty, and rocketing up the charts. It’s already tracking for a big debut on next week’s Billboard’s Hot 100 chart when it finishes its eligibility period.
The song’s equally coquettish video has been clogging up user timelines on X and Instagram, and Carpenter’s doll-like visage becoming an unavoidable sight. “Espresso” has everything going for it to become the song of summer 2024, but it’s the tune’s brilliantly absurd chorus that has me ready to elevate it to genius status.
If you’re unaware, like I largely was until last week, who Sabrina Carpenter is, you need only consult Olivia Rodrigo fans. Back in 2021, Carpenter was embroiled in a love triangle scandal after Rodrigo’s hit song “Drivers License” referenced what many believed to be her relationship with fellow Disney star Joshua Bassett. (Carpenter, Bassett, and Rodrigo all crossed paths during their time in the Disney universe; Carpenter was one of the stars of Girl Meets World, while Rodrigo and Bassett rose to........