Sabrina Carpenter, America’s premiere pint-sized coitus enthusiast, courted not a man but controversy at the beginning of the summer with the cover of her new album, Man’s Best Friend. The cover depicted Carpenter on her knees in a sexually submissive position while a nondescript male suitor caresses her hair.

The actual content of Man’s Best Friend is often similarly racy, but in contrast to the cover, it is Carpenter who dominates her men in the narratives of the album’s 12 songs. Staying in her lane of sex-centric pop confections, Carpenter manages to stay fresh despite the familiar subject matters, mostly thanks to her voice and production growing more confident and diverse.

Take, for example, the lush harmonies on “We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night” or the dreamy, layered vocals and majestic strings on “Nobody’s Son,” both of which rank among the album’s best tracks: these racy yet surprisingly mature relationship analogies showcase the next evolution in Carpenter’s artistry. She is still sex crazed and playful, but she’s also becoming more concerned with more nuanced aspects of male-female relationships and it is to her benefit, as the lyrics on these songs as well as tracks like “My Man on Willpower” and “Never Getting Laid” rank among her wittiest.

While it doesn’t quite have the immediate appeal of 2023’s Short’n Sweet, Man’s Best Friend is a more than worthy follow-up, and one that entices anticipation for Carpenter’s next project.