Album reviews: Sabrina Carpenter, Hayley Williams, Mary Halvorson, Javier Perianes

POP

Sabrina Carpenter

Man’s Best Friend (Island)

If Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet celebrated the start of a romantic relationship, the pop sensation’s seventh studio album, Man’s Best Friend, is where it all comes undone in messy pieces.

The former Disney Channel star has risen to the top of the charts with catchy, sexually liberated hits that blend pop with the occasional country twang and R&B sultriness.

The provocative image on her original album cover for Man’s Best Friend, shows Carpenter on all fours near a standing suited man grabbing a fistful of her golden locks. The submissive pose coupled with the album’s title caught the attention of many. While some critics online bashed the theme as misogynistic, others say satire is the name of the game, as Carpenter has shown not to take her art too seriously.

Album opener Manchild describes the typical man Carpenter attracts: thick-witted, can’t dress and ultimately immature. Following tracks Tears and My Man on Willpower also allude to disappointment in her man and it’s clear he isn’t cutting it. A breakup is imminent and Carpenter goes on to face the stages, track by track, from the fighting to the split to the rebound fling.

The feelings that accompany a breakup are addressed with fierce candidness and vulnerability, but not at the expense of sexiness — there’s a mention of sex in nearly every one of the album’s 12 tracks. The fun lies in tracks where Carpenter gets back out there, such as the sultry When Did You Get Hot? and House Tour, a disco-esque NSFW song with thinly veiled metaphors that aren’t fit for print.

A first listen to the album may be a surprise to listeners who are used to Carpenter’s more carefree songs, but as far as breakup albums go, Man’s Best Friend, with plenty of variety, catchy choruses and lyrics to make you blush, still brings the heat. 4/5

Stream: Manchild; When Did You Get So Hot?

— Kiana Doyle, The Associated Press

ROCK

Hayley Williams

Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party (Post Atlantic)

Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party is the Hayley Williams album listeners have been waiting for — whether they realize it or not.

Twenty years ago, the teenage emo band Paramore recorded their first song, Conspiracy fronted by a full-bodied vocalist in Williams. Her voice became their signature — huge and growing huger, religious belting atop chugging power chords.

Over the next 20 years, Paramore become one of the most influential rock bands of the last few decades, moving from Warped Tour-indebted sounds to something more malleable. There were gospel choirs on 2013’s Paramore, new wave-y dance pop on 2017’s After Laughter and jagged post-punk on 2023’s This Is Why. Zig? They zagged.

During the pandemic, Williams released two solo albums of more reserved, meditative indie rock. Consider those albums the foundation for her third project, Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, her most unshackled solo release to date.

Various ’90s alternative genres are a clear reference point: Brotherly Hate feels informed by Fiona Apple; Mirtazapine is a thrilling college rock-channeling ode to an antidepressant, with a coda of Williams’ distorted screams soaring over discordant guitars. Mental health is a central theme, too, appearing on the soft Negative Self Talk, or the pop-rock of Kill Me, a cutting examination of inherited trauma.

From the beginning of her music-making, Williams has been celebrated for her elastic voice. On Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, it is clear that elasticity is not only reserved for an otherworldly vocal range, it also refers to an emotional depth and music that extends beyond pastiche and into personal revelation.

So, if this is an “ego death,” what comes next? 4/5

Stream: Brotherly Hate; Ice in My OJ

— Maria Sherman, The Associated Press

JAZZ

Mary Halvorson

About Ghosts (Nonesuch)

Guitarist Mary Halvorson has a distinctive sound, incorporating a frequent “wa-wa” (inadequate description) slur at the end of phrases. Her albums are uniformly inventive and challenging, as is proven with this latest release.

Her sextet includes Adam O’Farrill on trumpet, Jacob Garchik on trombone, Nick Dunston on bass, Patricia Brennan on vibes and Tomas Fujiwara on drums. On this album it is augmented by Brian Settles on tenor and Immanuel Wilkins on alto.

Halvorson’s wide-ranging imagination and experimentation are on full display. The music is dense with a full sound that pulls the improvised sections together with wonderful clarity. The eight musicians are totally in sync with compositions that offer sometimes jarring but always logical moods with twisted melodies and descriptive solos. The unison sections are intense and while not easily hummable, are quite beautiful.

The opening track, Full Of Neon, has terrific solos by Garchik and Settles with Halvorson underpinning the complex melody. Carved From opens with a lovely brass and reed intro that sets up a stunning solo by Halvorson. It is a real highlight. Eventidal is a gentle ballad in mood and execution. Absinthian flies through amazing solos that drive relentlessly through the track.

As is often the case these days, this is not “easy” music. As with any serious genre, jazz sometimes requires a reaction that exceeds simply an emotional response to the rhythm or whatever. There will always be a solid place for that part of the genre. The fascination with contemporary jazz is that it has an increasingly wide range of exciting music. Sometimes one needs to hear something new several times to pick up the unexpected vibe.

In that context, this is simply a stunning album. 4.5/5

Stream: Amaranthine; Carved From

— Keith Black

CLASSICAL

Javier Perianes

Domenico Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas (Harmonia Mundi)

Spanish pianist Javier Perianes treats listeners to a program of best-known Scarlatti keyboard sonatas on his latest release.

A particular highlight is Sonata in F minor, K. 185, in which one seamless phrase flows into the next while showcasing Perianes’s sensitive artistry. His highly introspective approach similarly infuses gravitas into such others as a darkly pensive Sonata in F minor, K. 462; Sonata in F minor, K. 238; and Sonata in F minor, K. 466, his luminous tone making the latter feel suspended in time itself.

The more propulsive Sonata in D minor, K. 141, drives forward with its rapid fire, repetitive motifs and cascading figuration.

By contrast, other offerings composed in major tonality bring both lightness and levity, with the artist’s bravura on full display in Sonata in D major, K. 492, brimming with nimble runs and filigree ornamentation. Other highlights include a crisply executed Sonata in G major, K. 125 replete with the Baroque composer’s idiosyncratic hand crossing, as well as one of his most beloved works, Sonata in E major, K. 380, with the performer tossing off its bountiful trills with laser-like precision.

The album is capped by a pair of consecutive pieces notably both penned in the same tricky key: Sonata in F sharp minor, K. 447 and K. 448 providing one last burst of high-spirited energy in Perianes’s fearless, unflinching hands. 4/5

Stream: Sonata in F minor, K. 185; Sonata in E major, K. 380; Sonata in F sharp minor, K. 448

— Holly Harris