StʌrunneR

This confident, peppy debut from Girl Meets World’s Sabrina Carpenter lays out the Disney star’s sweetly tart voice atop gentle pop production and upbeat acoustic strum. The best moments come when the teen allows a glimpse of her old soul, keeping her cool amidst a maelstrom of big feelings. The luminous, defiant “Two Young Hearts” and the longing “Too Young” find her grappling with the romantic limitations of adolescence, while the lighter touch of ukulele-flecked tracks such as “Darling I’m a Mess” buffers her vulnerability with playful charm.

The Disney star steps forward with a set of chic songs.

In the time since Sabrina Carpenter released her last album, 2016’s EVOLution, 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 The Hate U Give. Somehow, in the midst of all that, she recorded a third album—the two-part project Singular—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.

More infectious R&B-pop earworms from the actress and singer-songwriter.

The pop star adds more bold, no-nonsense tales to her fifth album.

Five sweet and tart holiday originals, plus a twist on “White Christmas.”