Between “Espresso” taking over our playlists, “Manchild” racing to No. 1 on Spotify, and a sold-out arena tour that will now run until Thanksgiving, Sabrina Carpenter is in full victory-lap mode—and she isn’t slowing down. Less than a year after Short n’ Sweet won two Grammys and soared up the charts, the singer has confirmed a brand-new LP, Man’s Best Friend, arriving August 29.
Carpenter revealed the news with a playfully provocative Instagram carousel: The first slide shows her on all fours in a little black dress while a suited arm tugs at her hair; the second slide zooms in on a powder-blue collar engraved with the phrase “Man’s Best Friend.” The imagery could be a tongue-in-cheek hint that the album might explore themes of loyalty and sexual power dynamics. It’s also a reminder that pop’s reigning mischief-maker still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve.
Below, every detail we have so far, from release details to what “Manchild” signals about the singer’s next chapter.
When will Man’s Best Friend be released?
Carpenter’s seventh studio album will arrive at the tail-end of summer, on August 29, via Island Records. Pre-orders are already live on the singer’s website.
What does the artwork look like?
Carpenter leans into the canine pun on the album’s cover art. After some online pushback over the original image, she unveiled a second version on June 25 to subly respond to the backlash.
The image features her embracing a man, a stark contrast to the leash-centric visual of the previous cover. She captioned the Instagram announcement, “& here is a new alternate cover approved by God,” in a wink to her critics.
On August 8, Carpenter revealed another edition of the album cover, writing on Instagram, “the final alternate cover for Man’s Best Friend features such a special bonus track called ‘Such A Funny Way’ available only on vinyl.”
Which songs will be on the album?
Carpenter shared the full tracklist for Man’s Best Friend on August 1. In a new Instagram, the singer posed next to a puppy seated in a director’s chair labeled with the final song title, “Tears.” She had been sharing posts of fans with puppies to reveal the other tracks.
“thank you to all my beautiful perfect fans that helped me reveal the tracklist for Man’s Best Friend🐾 the final track reveal is… track #2 ‘Tears.’ can’t believe the album will be in your ears in exactly 4 weeks 🤍.”
The album includes these 12 songs:
- “Manchild”
- “Tears”
- “My Man on Willpower”
- “Sugar Talking”
- “We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night”
- “Nobody’s Son”
- “Never Getting Laid”
- “When Did You Get Hot?”
- “Go Go Juice”
- “Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry”
- “House Tour”
- “Goodbye”
What else has Carpenter said about the album?
As she told Rolling Stone on June 12, Carpenter isn’t feeling weighed down by others’ expectations of Man’s Best Friend. “I’m living in the glory of no one hearing it or knowing about it, and so I can not care,” she said, as the album is still under wraps. “I can not give a fuck about it, because I’m just so excited.”
Rather than trying to outdo her previous success, Carpenter explained that this project was driven by a different mindset. “It wasn’t written from a place of ‘How do I one-up myself?’ or ‘How do I re-create something else?’” she said, reflecting on her breakout with Short n’ Sweet. She added that the earlier album helped her connect with herself creatively: “It fed me, and it fed a lot of other people in the world. It felt true to me, and it felt authentic to a lot of other people. It’s rare that those line up ever, let alone more than once. It unlocked my brain to know myself more and more.”
This story will be updated.
