Hi! So, Sabrina Carpenter has pleasantly surprised me. When I was first introduced to her in the late 2010s, I wasn't super interested in getting into her music. But ever since Nonsense released in 2022, I've been intrigued by her unique sound and clever, funny lyrical style. Her last album Short N Sweet got a very high score when I reviewed it earlier this year. And while Christmas albums tend to not be as great as main albums, there are some that are very good (many of which I will be reviewing throughout the 12 days of Christmas). Without further ado, here is my review of Sabrina Carpenter's Christmas album, Fruitcake!
1. A Nonsense Christmas
My rating: 5/5 Great
Easily one of my favorite songs of 2022 and 2023 was Nonsense. Well, it wasn't until recently that I heard her Christmas remix. And it's great. The slight production changes are not distracting, and to me elevate the holiday-like nature of this remix in the best way possible. And these lyrics are hilarious. Sure, they're very explicit, but they're some of Sabrina's most clever so I don't care. I would say this remix is just as good as the original while still being completely different, which not many remixes succeed at doing. Overall, this is a somewhat rare occurrence of an album's opening track being one of the best on the album.
2. Buy Me Presents
My rating: 5/5 Great
Yet another great, funny song. This song's lyrics are as Sabrina Carpenter as they come. Basically the whole concept of these lyrics is that she wishes for her boyfriend to "buy her presents", but if he doesn't, she has someone else who can "buy her presents" instead, who is implied to be Santa... I think that's really funny and clever, and the lyrics are super well-written for this concept. And the production is very festive and sounds cool throughout. Another great song!
3. Santa Doesn't Know You Like I Do
My rating: 4/5 Good
*sigh* Sorry, I know everyone seems to love this song, but I'm just not getting it. I still like it, it's just far from a standout track. I like the production, although I kind of wish it had a bit more evolution and it seems a bit generic at times. The lyrics are alright. It's another concept very characteristic of Sabrina. It's basically the complete opposite of Buy Me Presents: she wants to be the one "buying presents" for a boy she likes instead of Santa "buying him presents". It's got some funny moments throughout but overall it just feels like another easily overlookable Sabrina Carpenter song. But it's not bad by any means. Alright, moving on I guess.
4. Cindy Lou Who
My rating: 4/5 Good
Usually, I love Christmas ballads. Taylor Swift's Christmases When You Were Mine is not just my favorite song on Taylor's Christmas album, but also one of my favorite songs of her entire discography. But this one's just not doing it for me. There's one main reason I'm not a fan of this: it's out of place on this album. It's just not Christmas-y enough. You could basically remove Cindy Lou Who's name from it and it would no longer qualify as a Christmas song. The lyrics have an interesting concept: a boy she loved is now dating Cindy Lou Who. But really, it just seems like a generic breakup song that could've fit better on Short N Sweet. And maybe if it was, I would like it better. But anyway, moving on.
5. Is It New Years Yet?
My rating: 4/5 Good
Okay, three less-than-great ratings in a row. That's slightly unexpected, but I don't think it'll bring the score down by much. Really the only reason I included this on my New Year playlist a few days ago was because there are not many songs out there that fit that theme, and this is a popular one that I guess is well-liked to some extent. I'm not a huge fan of it. The production is cool, albeit generic, and it gets old somewhat quickly because it does not change much throughout. The lyrics are kinda funny though. It's about being tired of a stressful holiday season and wanting to cut straight to the next year. Not a concept I see very often. But overall, this isn't bad but it's not exactly a song I'll come back to very often.
6. White Xmas
My rating: 5/5 Great
Wow. This is one of the only times an album has started AND ended on a great song. Sure, this is a cover and all, but it's one of my favorite, if not my #1 favorite cover I've ever heard of White Christmas. Taylor Swift's version is great, but I think I slightly prefer this one. It has a cool sound to it that's like a blend of jazz with an atmospheric synth-pop. The production is a bit slow to get started, but it evolves a good amount throughout. And I just find the original White Christmas to be a very enjoyable song all around so that just adds to it.
Conclusion
Overall album rating: 90% (Great Album)
I guess if you're looking for fun, clever, unique music for the holidays, I would recommend this album. As a whole, while it's not one of the best albums out there, it's unsurprisingly quite great.
Favorite songs: A Nonsense Christmas, Buy Me Presents, White Xmas
"Least" favorite songs: Santa Doesn't Know You Like I Do, Cindy Lou Who, Is It New Years Yet
That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!
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