Counterpoint, a record store in Los Angeles’ Franklin Village, is probably not the first place one would expect to find Sabrina Carpenter on a sunny Monday afternoon — flipping through a stack of vintage Playboys, no less. The chart-dominating singer-songwriter is sipping a Yerba Mate while she oohs and ahhs at the blond bombshells of various yesteryears when a bright-blue cover featuring a pouty-faced model catches her eye. “I love the faces of the ’60s and ’90s — old Hollywood, flirty and fun,” Carpenter says.
“This is definitely the vibe of my album.” Surely, she must know she has the face too, right? The instant-vintage portraits accompanying her two smash summer singles, “Espresso ” and “ Please Please Please ,” have been ubiquitous since the former’s release in April, and she channels a similar Marilyn Monroe-inspired allure on the cover of her forthcoming album, “Short n’ Sweet,” due Aug. 23, as well as in the imagery for her first North American arena tour, which starts next month.
She’s just returned from a hectic promotional jaunt through Europe, but today Carpenter seems dead set on digging through every aisle of this vinyl emporium. After pausing on Charli XCX’s “Brat” (“Love it!”), Olivia Newton-John’s “Soul Kiss” and Beyoncé’s “Lemonade,” she spies Connie Francis’ 1958 album “Who’s Sorry Now?” “Connie Francis is amazing and super underrated,” she says, admiring the cover photo. “Oh, my God.