"Espresso"
Single by Sabrina Carpenter
Released	April 11, 2024 (2024-04-11)
Genre	Synth-pop [1] disco funk [2]
Length	2:55
Label	Island
Songwriter(s)	Sabrina Carpenter Amy Allen Julian Bunetta Steph Jones
Producer(s)	Julian Bunetta
Sabrina Carpenter singles chronology
" You Need Me Now?" (2024) "Espresso" (2024)
Music video
"Espresso" on YouTube

"Espresso" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter. It was released as a single on April 11, 2024, through Island Records. 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.

Considered as her breakout single, "Espresso" peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. Outside of the United States, it charted within the top ten in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Lithuania, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. It also debuted at number ten on the Billboard Global 200 chart.

Background

On January 16, 2024, Sabrina Carpenter was confirmed as part of the American festival Coachella, held in Indio, California. ^[3] 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!". ^[4] Carpenter announced the release of "Espresso" on her social media accounts on April 8, 2024, along with its release date and cover artwork. ^[5] She captioned the post with: "Just wanted to put out a little song before Coachella". ^[6] Island Records released the single via streaming and digital download, while Polydor Records released it through vinyl and cassette formats. ^[4]

Writing and composition

In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Carpenter confirmed that she wrote the song in France in a "very quick process", and that inspired "how the song ended up feeling". ^[7] 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'". ^[8] Music journalists described the song's genre as pop, ^[9] with elements of synthpop, disco, and funk. ^[10]

Commercial performance

"Espresso" debuted at number ten on the Billboard Global 200 chart, becoming Carpenter's first song reach and debut within the top 10 and fourth overall chart entry. Within its first week of release, the song garnered 34.6 million streams on Spotify exclusively. The song performed well internationally, debuting within the top 10 of five countries.

In the United States, the song debuted at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week dated April 27, 2024, becoming Carpenter's first top 10 hit and highest charting debut on the chart. ^{[11] [12]} The song has also become her fourth entry on the chart and second top 40 hit overall. ^[13] "Espresso" became Carpenter's third entry on the US Mainstream top 40 chart. The song also debuted at the same position of number seven in Canada. Likewise the song became her first top 10 hit on the chart. ^[14] In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number six on the UK singles chart, before climbing to number five in its second week. This became her first top 10 hit and second top 20 hit on the chart, with her most previous single, " Feather", peaking at number 19 on the chart. ^[15] The song also reached the top 5 in Ireland, where it debuted at number four on the Irish Singles Chart and then climbed to number three the week after. ^[16] In Brazil, the song debuted at number 70 on the Brasil Hot 100. ^[17]

Music video

An accompanying music video for "Espresso" was released on April 12, 2024, one day after the song. It was directed by Dave Meyers. ^[18] 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". ^[19]

The video begins with Sabrina and another man in a speedboat. As the man leans close behind Sabrina, she makes a sharp turn that leads to him falling out of the boat. She 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 Sabrina and one of the men lounge in it like a hot tub. However, she is then spotted by the man at the beginning of the video along with the police, who apprehend Sabrina and recover the man's wallet and gold credit card. She waves goodbye before being shoved into the cop car, which the police officer cannot start up. Music plays from the horn on top of the car, presumably setting a cliffhanger for a future track.^{[ citation needed]}

Live performance

Carpenter performed "Espresso" live for the first time at the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held on April 12. ^[20]

Track listing

• 7-inch / cassette ^{[21] [22]}

Side A

1. "Espresso"

Side B

1. "Espresso" (On Vacation)

Credits and 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

Charts

Release history

References