I’m sure you won’t disagree when I say that 2024 has been the year of Sabrina Carpenter. ‘Espresso’ hit the pop music scene with a bigger impact than your first sip of coffee in the morning. It broke records by topping the official UK charts for seven weeks and was crowned song of the summer by almost everyone. But “Espresso” It was more than just a song, it was an entire aesthetic. The first beats ring out and I’m already imagining retro swimsuits, blonde waves on the beach and cocktails by the sea (congratulations to Dave Meyers for an awesome music video). So, like everyone else, I was surprised when I remembered: Sabrina Carpenter has Christmas songs too?

Earlier this month, Carpenter partnered with Netflix to release An absurd Christmasa variety music special featuring his best festive hits. With musical guests ranging from Chappell Roan to Shania Twain, she incorporates all the classic hallmarks of a Christmas special while maintaining a comedic self-awareness that makes her version unique. But beyond its comedic entertainment value, what’s truly impressive about the 50-minute program is how packed it is with quality original music. Alongside well-known covers, Carpenter performs five of his own Christmas songs, a number that doesn’t even cover his entire Christmas repertoire.

“What truly great Christmas song hasn’t been overplayed year after year until annoyance turns to nostalgia and nostalgia turns to love?”

If you’re a new or casual Sabrina Carpenter fan, you may not know this. Fruit cakehis Christmas EP, was released a year before the Netflix special. The record was well received by fans upon its release, but only now that Carpenter has achieved true pop stardom are his seasonal tracks receiving the mainstream recognition they deserve. But what truly brilliant Christmas song hasn’t been overplayed year after year until annoyance turns to nostalgia and nostalgia turns to love? It’s been a while since a new artist broke into the Christmas canon of overplayed gems — the most recent example I can think of is Sia’s 2017 hit “Snowman,” and that was seven years ago now.. So while I’ll never get tired of listening to Mariah, I think it’s time for some fresh blood. My proposal? We’re bringing in Sabrina Carpenter.

I know what you’re thinking: “This woman has been famous for five minutes, and you want to put her on the same level as Bublé and Wham? No chance. But listen to me. If we never opened our hearts to a new artist’s festive tune, we would have missed out on one of the best Christmas songs of all time: Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe.” I’m not saying we should accept just any generic Christmas song in the hopes that it will eventually come to us. Successful pop stars tend to overestimate their ability to write seasonal lyrics, at the cost of polluting our radio stations with cliché tunes. Sabrina Carpenter, however, is not one of them. Each song featured on Fruit cake is expertly crafted with a unique premise. It’s clear that Carpenter wrote each of them because she found genuine inspiration, not for the all-too-common reason of wanting to retire during the annual recess.

‘Even she’s tired of how the holidays can be about relationships’

“Santa doesn’t know you like I do.” is my favorite on the record. If you want to know what the seasonal love song is about, the clue is in the name. Quite the opposite of Mariah’s “All I want for Christmas is you” sentiment, Carpenter implores her lover to realize that all he should want for Christmas is, in fact, her . Another example where Carpenter shows his comedic lyricism is in “Buy Me Presents”. when she jokingly warns: “If you don’t want to buy me presents, drink me like a glass of hot milk.” The track is littered with affirmations of self-worth, reminding women to maintain high relationship standards during the holidays while making humorous nods to how easy it is to have illusions about men.

“Is it New Year already?” » is a nice addition to a Christmas collection because it’s actually anti-Christmas. Perhaps inspired by the “bah humbug” sentiment of The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping,” Carpenter laments the dangers of being single during the holiday season. The exclamation “Fruitcake just makes me sick (ugh)” is an ironic reference to the EP’s title; Carpenter clearly loves Christmas, but even she’s tired of how relationship-focused the holiday can be.

In each track of Fruit cakeCarpenter maintains a sophisticated balance between humor and magic. The EP is rooted in traditional Christmas imagery, but Carpenter’s funny and witty lyricism makes it relevant to modern listeners. It’s not every year that an artist releases a Christmas song that escapes banality without skimping on fun, and it’s even less often that he achieves it over six entire tracks. Carpenter pulls it off, so let’s give him some credit and bring in at least one song from Fruit cake in the modern Christmas canon.