Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” Mimics the Frothiness of Selena Gomez’s “Love On”

While Sabrina Carpenter might not have written a song about cappuccino, “Espresso” has plenty of (sonic) froth to offer. And it’s of the variety that very much mimics Selena Gomez’s stylings for her own summer anthem, “Love On.” Although the latter was released in February, months before summer was a thought on anyone’s mind, Gomez seemed to be aware of the fact that seasons, at this juncture, are merely a state of mind (what with so much environmental/meteorological inconsistency at present). Carpenter, too, got a bit of a jump on the season by releasing “Espresso” in mid-April, just before her weekend performance at Coachella, where her new(ish) boyfriend, Barry Keoghan, was the recipient of many a lascivious glance. 

To complement the froth of a song that touts, “Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know/That’s that me espresso/Move it up, down, left, right, oh/Switch it up like Nintendo” (lyrics that very much smack of Ariana Grande on “34+35” or “positions”—or even her gaming-oriented line, “Yet you played me like Atari” on “eternal sunshine”), Carpenter brings her listeners a sumptuous, beachy visual to go with it. As Carpenter herself said, “Since the day I heard the song, I saw a beach atmosphere—and more specifically this kind of old school [meets] modern environment.” She also added, “I also just wanted a pool car, to be frank.” Change the phrase to “girls just wanna have pool cars,” because Carpenter is sure to make this specific type of vehicle more appealing than when Lourdes Leon, Grimes, Amandla Stenberg and Kenya Kinski-Jones rode around in one for a Stella McCartney perfume ad. 

Proving she’s hit the big time by getting Dave Meyers to direct, the video opens on people getting a tan, with part of their skin becoming redder than others to spell out “Sabrina Carpenter,” “Espresso” and “Directed by Dave Meyers.” The dreamy, faraway sound of the intro (that sounds vaguely like the one in Katy Perry’s “Chained to the Rhythm”) continues to play as Carpenter, shows off sunglasses (akin to Zendaya’s in the Challengers poster) that reflect what she’s seeing (hot boys). The tune endures as the cinematography shifts from color to black and white. It’s then that the shot shifts its focus to a speedboat cutting through the water. One that, obviously, Carpenter is driving as she puts her hand above her forehead as though in search of something (maybe hard dick). The man riding in the back appears to relish that Carpenter is in control, a vibe that reflects the message Carpenter wanted to get across with the single: “[It’s] kind of about seeing femininity as your superpower, and embracing the confidence of being that bitch.”

Gomez’s “Love On” radiates a similar confidence, with such faux ominous warnings as, “Wait ‘til I turn my love on…/I’m a rollercoaster ride, baby, jump on/Come on, come on/‘Cause, baby, if you can’t tell (baby, if you can’t tell)/You’re what I wanna love on, oh.” In her accompanying video, directed by Gregory “Greg” Ohrel, the aura is also saturated in a summery mood, with Gomez specifically wanting to channel the South of France (even though the video was shot inside the Villa de Leon in Malibu—L.A. is so good at doubling for various locations, after all). This includes her sitting on a balcony with a picturesque oceanside view while she’s given a dubious manicure from a grudging butler (side note: Carpenter favors a pedicure in her video instead, with pampering being a running motif in both women’s alternate worlds). Gomez’s variety of costume changes (“got you covered like garments”) amid a sea of kissing couples is what stands out the most—along with her passionate consumption of a croissant and coffee. Which brings us back to caffeine as the metaphor Carpenter chooses to wield for the kind of lovelorn feeling she invokes in people (men or otherwise). Except that, much like Britney Spears on “Oops!…I Did It Again,” she can’t help but shrug off anyone who gets too attached. 

This is exactly why, when the guy on the boat starts trying to “love on” her, she veers sharply so that he falls right off. For an added bonus, she manages to latch onto his wallet before he literally dips out. Because, in addition to pool cars, girls still just wanna have funds. At this moment, the gold credit card is the only object in color before the palette switches out of black and white and again into color. Carpenter subsequently approaches the shore with a lifesaver around her as she clutches the credit card and croons, “I can’t relate to desperation/My ‘give a fucks’ are on vacation.” So, too, is Carpenter herself now that she has a subsidized one via this guy’s plastic. 

We soon see her on the beach bedecked with a headscarf that’s styled in the Old Hollywood (or babushka) manner as she prances around with an umbrella—these accoutrements (along with a dash of Wes Anderson-inspired cinematography thrown in) lending the old school flavor she wanted for the video. The same old school one that Gomez imbued “Love On” with sonically and visually as well (complete with an array of 60s-inspired ensembles Gomez dons in the video to complement the throwback sound). 

While both singers favor a chirpy, high-pitched intonation to help carry off lyrics that would otherwise be difficult to “accept” (e.g., Gomez saying, “Why are we conversin’ over this steak tartare when we could be/Somewhere other than here/Makin’ out in the back of a car” and “Or we could make a memoir, yeah/On the back wall of the last stall/In the bathroom at The Bazaar”). And while it might be difficult for some to stomach the more cornball lyrics in “Love On,” Carpenter has a way of making them easier to, er, swallow by painting herself as an aloof femme fatale. Indeed, many of the lyrics feel like pointed shade at Keoghan’s ex/baby mama, Alyson Kierans. For example, “Too bad your ex don’t do it for ya/Walked in and dream came trued it for ya/Soft skin and I perfumed it for ya/I know I Mountain Dew it for ya [this being a line very much in Lana Del Rey’s wheelhouse]/That morning coffee, brewed it for ya/One touch and I brand newed it for ya.” The playful songwriting style, courtesy of Carpenter and co-writers Amy Allen, Steph Jones and Julian Bunetta, renders nouns and adjectives into verbs and turns brands into wordplay. Maybe Carpenter is more Shakespearean than one might think. 

Granted, Shakespeare never could have fathomed a woman so beach and boy crazy (with female characters like Juliet Capulet only crazy for one boy). Traits Carpenter is happy to showcase as the video continues while she laps up the surfer dudes and an ice cream cone before finally getting her “just deserts” for stealing an overly-into-her man’s credit card and ditching him in the water back at the beginning of this little romp. Of course, that’s the most unrealistic thing about the narrative: a pretty blonde white girl would never get such a comeuppance. Which is probably why Gomez and Carpenter should have swapped concepts.