Espresso (song)

"Espresso" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter. It was released on April 11, 2024, through Island Records, as the lead single from her upcoming sixth studio album, Short n' Sweet (2024). She wrote the song along with Amy Allen, Steph Jones, and Julian Bunetta, and the latter handled production. A Dave Meyers-directed music video for "Espresso" was released on the following day. To support its release, Carpenter performed the song at the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

"Espresso" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Carpenter's first top ten single on the chart. Outside of the United States, "Espresso" topped the charts in 16 countries, including Australia and the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in at least 20 other countries, including Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. The song also earned Carpenter her first number-one single on the Billboard Global 200.

Background
On January 16, 2024, Sabrina Carpenter was confirmed as part of the American festival Coachella, held in Indio, California. She teased a new song, ahead of her performance at the festival, via billboards that read: "She's gonna make you come... to her Coachella set!". Carpenter announced the release of "Espresso" on her social media accounts on April 8, 2024, along with its release date and cover artwork. She captioned the post with: "Just wanted to put out a little song before Coachella". Island Records released the single via streaming and digital download, while Polydor Records released it through vinyl and cassette formats.

Writing and composition
After a concert in July 2023 at the Zénith Paris in France, Carpenter spent a few days in the village of Chailland, where she recorded some new tracks at Flow Studios. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Carpenter confirmed that she wrote the song there in a "very quick process", and that inspired "how the song ended up feeling". The lyrics of the song are about self-confidence. Speaking to American magazine Vogue, she stated that the song is about "seeing femininity as your super power and embracing the confidence of being 'that bitch'". Music journalists described the song's genre as pop, with elements of synth-pop, disco, and funk. The main guitar riff featured in the song is a loop coming from a Splice sample pack made by Oliver in 2021. The lyrics reference Carpenter’s boyfriend, Academy Award nominated actor Barry Keoghan.

The song received attention for its lyrics, particularly the use of a recurring line in the chorus, "That's that me espresso". Linguistics expert and journalist Samantha Allen noted that the line became a meme for its grammatical incorrectness. Vulture writer Justin Curto compared it to the line "Now that I've become who I really are" from Ariana Grande and Zedd's 2014 single "Break Free", feeling that such grammatically incorrect lines "often end up being the catchiest lines in the song".

Critical reception
"Espresso" received widespread acclaim from critics. Vulture highlighted the song's catchy hook, referring to it as an "instant earworm", while also appreciating its "whimsical" lyrical approach. Uproxx praised Carpenter's "playful" lyrics and the track's "infectious groove", describing "Espresso" as a "fun, upbeat song that demonstrates Carpenter's growth as a songwriter". Similarly, Rolling Stone lauded the song's "irresistible rhythm" and "clever" lyrics, emphasizing Carpenter's distinctive flair for storytelling.

Commercial performance
"Espresso" debuted at number ten on the Billboard Global 200 chart, becoming Carpenter's first top-ten hit and fourth overall entry on the chart. By the week of June 22, 2024, the song had reached its peak at number one, becoming her first song to top the chart. In the United States, "Espresso" debuted at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week dated April 27, 2024, marking Carpenter's first top ten hit on the chart. The song had risen to a new peak at number three on the chart dated June 22, 2024. This achievement also represents Carpenter's fourth entry on the Hot 100 and second top 40 hit overall. Furthermore, "Espresso" is Carpenter's eighth entry and second number one single on the Billboard Pop Airplay chart.

In the United Kingdom, "Espresso" debuted at number six on the UK Singles Chart before climbing to number five in its second week, and peaking at the top of the chart in its third week. It is Carpenter's first chart-topper and top ten song in Britain, and her fourth top 40 hit overall there. The song spent five consecutive weeks at the top of the chart before being dethroned by "Houdini" by Eminem. On July 12, 2024, "Espresso" returned to the top of the UK Singles Chart for a further two weeks, replacing her own song "Please Please Please" from the summit, where it had remained for three consecutive weeks and became just the second female artist ever to replace themselves at number one after Ariana Grande.

In Ireland, the song debuted at number four on the Irish Singles Chart and then climbed to number three the week after. "Espresso" topped the Irish Singles Chart in its third week, becoming Carpenter's first chart-topping hit in Ireland and first top-ten song there. It also reached the top of the ARIA Singles Chart in Australia and peaked at number four on the Canadian Hot 100, becoming her first top ten hit on the chart. The song also debuted at number 70 on the Brasil Hot 100.

In Europe, Latin America, and Asia, the song met an unexpected success, topping the charts in some countries, including India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Iceland, top ten in Indonesia, France, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Belgium, top twenty in Taiwan,  Austria, and Finland, top thirty in Kazakhstan, Hungary, and Romania (Airplay), and top forty in Brazil and Argentina.

Music video
An accompanying music video for "Espresso", directed by Dave Meyers, was released on April 12, 2024. About the video, Carpenter expressed: "Since the day I heard the song, I saw a beach atmosphere—and more specifically this kind of old school [and] modern environment. [I wanted to capture] the playfulness that I like to use throughout all of my videos. I also just wanted a pool car, to be frank".

The video begins with Carpenter and a man in a speedboat. As the man leans close behind her, she makes a sharp turn that leads to him falling out of the boat. Carpenter retrieves his wallet and pulls his gold credit card out of it, and as she makes land, she meets with some other girls and engages in various activities such as reading a book, receiving massages and pedicures, and sunbathing while being fanned by leaves. Right before the second verse, another vintage car shows up with a bunch of other men, who hold up a surfboard that she dances on top of. They continue to party together, and the car is eventually filled with water as Carpenter and one of the men lounge in it like a hot tub. However, she is then spotted by the man from the beginning of the video along with the police, who apprehend Carpenter and recover the man's wallet and gold credit card. As her friends unsuccessfully try to protest to the cops, she waves goodbye to her friends before being shoved into the cop car, which the police officer is unable to start up. In the last few seconds, part of the instrumental from "Please Please Please", Carpenter's next single, plays from a horn on the top of the police car.

Live performances
Carpenter performed "Espresso" live for the first time at the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held on April 12. On May 18, Carpenter performed the song on Saturday Night Live. On May 26, the song was also performed by Carpenter at the 2024 BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Luton, England.

Track listing

 * 7-inch / cassette
 * 1) "Espresso" – 2:55
 * 2) "Espresso" (On Vacation) – 2:55


 * Digital EP
 * 1) "Espresso" – 2:55
 * 2) "Espresso" (Double Shot) – 2:29
 * 3) "Espresso" (On Vacation) – 2:55
 * 4) "Espresso" (Decaf) – 3:14
 * 5) "Espresso" (Mochapella) – 2:55
 * 6) "Espresso" (Espressooooo) – 4:55


 * Working Late Remixes
 * 1) "Espresso" (Mark Ronson x FNZ Working Late Remix) – 3:04
 * 2) "Espresso" (Mark Ronson x FNZ Working Later Remix) – 5:38
 * 3) "Espresso" – 2:55

Credits and personnel
Recording and management
 * Recorded at Flow Studios (Chailland, France), The Perch (Calabasas, California) and The Nest (Nashville, Tennessee).
 * Sabalicious Songs (BMI) administered by Songs Of Universal, Inc., Music Of Big Family/Dragon Bunny Music (BMI) all rights administered by Hipgnosis Songs Group, Kenny + Betty Tunes (ASCAP) administered by WC Music Corp., Steph Jones Who Music (ASCAP) administered by Reservoir Media Management, Inc.

Personnel


 * Sabrina Carpenter – lead vocals, songwriting
 * Julian Bunetta – bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, percussion, production, songwriting, mixing, programming, engineering
 * Amy Allen – background vocals, songwriting
 * Steph Jones – background vocals, songwriting
 * Nathan Dantzler – mastering
 * Jeff Gunnell – mixing, engineering
 * Harrison Tate – mastering assistance

Credits adapted from the single's liner notes.