The Sabrina Carpenter Slowburn (sabrinastar99)

This review is Part II of my critical chronicle of Sabrina Carpenter. For Part I of The Sabrina Carpenter Slowburn, click here.

Please check out the Spotify playlist below that features noteworthy songs and references relevant to this series.

Quakertown, Pennsylvania. May 11, 1999. Sabrina Carpenter was born.

Raised in Lehigh Valley, Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter grew up with three older sisters and four cats: Mocha, Cayla, Sarah, Bobo, Shannon, Woody, and Ginger. Feel free to sort them out.

Their mother, a former company dancer turned chiropractor, nurtured Sabrina's passion for the arts. She enrolled Sabrina in dance school at the age of three and signed her up for singing lessons at six.

When the Carpenters visited a small Irish pub known as the Limeport Inn, a waitress named Patty would invite Sabrina to sing “Happy Birthday” to patrons, occasionally for tips. Her mom always told Sabrina to give the money back. Sabrina calls these customers her "first real audience."

Her first crowd performance was at an elementary school talent show where she sang "I Enjoy Being a Girl" from Flower Drum Song. Another school performance showcased Sabrina singing "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid.

As her voice developed, Sabrina wanted to strictly focus on performing and auditioning. She was homeschooled by the fourth grade, studying with the same vocal coach who had once trained her mother. Sabrina's father supported her by building her first-ever recording studio in a home closet when she was 10 ("It was like a Harry Potter closet under the staircase"). As a gourmet chef, he forbade his family from eating at McDonald's, Taco Bell, and any other fast food joints.

Beyond her parents, Sabrina was creatively inspired by TV shows and musicals. And while musicals such as Hairspray, and sitcoms such as Full House, The Amanda Show, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Victorious were cherished staples at the Carpenter household, nothing on the cable provider could compete with Hannah Montana.

"I remember... watching the pilot and being like 'I want to do that. I want to sing, and I want to act, and I want to dance. I want to do all those things." — Sabrina Carpenter, 2020

"I've always wanted to be on Disney Channel and have my own show. Hopefully, someday, maybe at a little girl's birthday party, they'll have my music on. And that just'd be an awesome feeling." — Sabrina Carpenter, 2009

Most divisively, her passion for entertainment was coddled from the silver spoon of Nancy Cartwright, voice of Bart Simpson. In interviews, Sabrina claimed she has learned a lot about showmanship from observing her aunt Nancy. She also shared that Nancy has leveraged her Bart Simpson voice to land luxurious restaurant reservations.

On the days Nancy is not busting out cartoon impressions to flatter bougie restaurant receptionists, she is dropping $20 million checks for the church of Scientology.

Get all the nepo-baby jokes out of your system — let's move on.

Excited to showcase her voice, 9-year-old Sabrina started posting weekly YouTube videos under the username, sabrinastar99. Her performances spanned an eclectic range of country classics, soulful ballads, and today's top hits. One of her earliest YouTube posts displayed a 2-year-old Sabrina singing "God Bless America".

Sabrina gravitated towards music performed by women with powerhouse vocals, such as Adele, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, and Beyoncé. Other pop royalty — Bruno Mars, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift — were cited as inspirations.

However, as with much of her sabrinastar99 tenure, much of her early work is unlisted. The only remnants of sabrinstar99 from her official account is an adorable cover of "Picture to Burn" and an impressive rendition of "Set Fire To The Rain" posted below. Her raspy tone and measured vocal control at such a young age is mind-blowingly stellar.

Despite cleansing her channel of sabrinastar99, her fans have preserved plenty of her prepubescent posting. Shout out to Sabrina Carpenter Video Archives, Sabrina Carpenter UK, and SabrinaCBiggestFan01 for their extensive archiving. Noteworthy covers include "At Last", "Sueños Rotos", "Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again", and a stripped-back, gender-swapped mashup of "Eenie Meenie" and "Baby" by Justin Bieber.

Her astonishing covers caught the cochleas of Matthew Jordan. After discovering the singing sensation, Matthew contacted the Carpenter family about writing and producing a song with Sabrina. By August 2010, Sabrina launched her first-ever promotional single, "Catch My Breath".

"Catch My Breath" is a zero-calorie soft-rock sleeper buried in the binding of a dusty karaoke songbook. Sabrina's youthful charm is sanded down by limp percussion, wispy strings, and lifeless piano arpeggios. The hollowed-out backup vocals in the final chorus drain whatever atmosphere was left. Besides the spacey synth in the second verse, the production is uninspired and flat, offering little dynamic build or emotional payoff.

Pairing Sabrina with this subject matter is confounding. "Catch My Breath" revolves around reigniting a love that has long drifted away. The writing is melodramatic Hallmark cheese — think divorced-housewife rom-com territory. Putting those overwrought, long-lost love lyrics on the lips of an 11-year-old, decked out in SweetTart makeup, is downright comical.

Despite providing such unimaginative production, a toast must go to Matthew Jordan. You were a necessary step in sparking Sabrina’s career and the first-ever producer of the woman who would play the wind chimes with her ass on Tiny Desk. Thank you for serving as a sappy springboard for Sabrina’s star-studded stilettos.

Anyway, her next single is one of the best songs Sabrina released this decade.

Admittingly, my high praise for this forgotten gem is largely an indictment towards her mismanaged 2010's output. I have pages and pages of notes dissecting her mixed-bagged body of work. But when young Sabrina releases something so magical...

...yeah, I will withhold my whining for now.

"Fall Apart" adopts much of the soundscape of "Catch My Breath" with its gentle piano, synthetic string ensemble, and mellow percussion. As its predecessor, this second single should sound like karaoke presets.

The key difference falls upon its pacing. Starting with ethereal strings and sparse piano creates the right amount of tension for Sabrina to set the stage. She sings about her gratitude and anxieties for the present moment with a new partner. As Sabrina captures our attention, the verse progresses with a live cello, some guitar strumming, and a piano motif. These additions provide nervous momentum, mirroring Sabrina's emotions.

Then, at the chorus, all the instruments drop out. A pounding heartbeat cuts through. The moment is tense, a few seconds from disaster. Yet, Sabrina shines in the uncertainty. She pleads her heart to embrace these new emotions, to surrender to the wonderful feeling of love. To fall apart.

"Fall Apart" was a perfect match for the young vocalist. Sabrina convincingly sells this song because she sings lyrics that are authentic to her 11-year-old self. This track was designed to embellish her strengths and emphasize her youth in a nostalgic, non-creepy way. I especially love the Spider-Man reference over the electric guitar riff in the bridge. Sprinkles on some geek charm to balance out the intensity.

With great production comes a great performance. "Fall Apart" took a leap of faith and came out amazing.

In addition to music, Sabrina would post herself and her sisters playing with fashion and makeup, filming update vlogs, acting out comedy skits, and lip-synching to misogynistic 3OH!3 ragebait: the late-2000s YouTube girl starter pack. I am endeared Sabrina had a homemade, funny film phase, complete with makeshift green screens, royalty-free sound effects, and the white noise of a radiator. She even hosted a Halloween costume contest on Facebook in 2010 — she was truly in her Content Creator Era.

Many of her videos prominently featured Sarah, Sabrina's older sister and fellow entertainer. Sarah will become a recurring character throughout Sabrina’s content. For now, she is the loving, wacky co-star on Sabrina's growing channel. Two years after her initial launch, sabrinastar99 amassed around 30,000 subscribers.

The most precious aspect of Sabrina's pre-industry work is how her youth was preserved — not in terms of online documentation, but through her family balancing her development as both an entertainer and a kid. While many young actors are forced to grow up fast and sacrifice their youth, Sabrina was privileged to have parents who seemed to prioritize their child over the star.

Sabrina confessed she was grateful she did not move to Los Angeles before she was 12: "I got to still be a kid and have sleepovers and go to dance school and do all the things that kids want to do."

Of course, Sabrina did not have a conventional, expectation-free childhood. Her first international trip was for a two-song performance in China for the Hunan TV Gold Mango Festival. Sabrina booked this concert and first-class flight after her aggressively mediocre cover of "You Raised Me Up" blew up overseas. Around the same time, Sabrina landed her first acting role, a guest spot on Law & Order: SVU. These initial gigs boosted her profile and industry connection, opening the floodgates to greater opportunity.

More appearances. More interviews. More shows. More Sabrina.

Not the by-the-book childhood experience.

Furthermore, sabrinastar99 was not just some kid posting for goofs. Back when she kickstarted her channel, Sabrina paid a $29.95 annual subscription fee for entry into the Hannah Montana-branded club, MileyWorld. The website promised its 200,000 members that they could submit covers into "The Next Miley Cyrus Project" for the golden opportunity to record and release an album with Miley Cyrus as their vocal coach.

Sabrina had entered the digital Disney Channel version of America Idol.

Submission highlights included a sizzling Tina Turner tribute with "Proud Mary", some surprising selections for a "Michael Jackson Medley", Hannah Montana's infamous "Hoedown Throwdown" and "The Climb", and the sassy, show-stopping, frankly superior rendition of Christina Aguilera's "Makes Me Wanna Pray" displayed above.

Although she received third place in the competition, Sabrina attributes this contest towards her growth as a videomaker, vocalist, and performer. This growth in vocal talent and command of the stage impressed the execs at Hollywood Records, the Miley Cyrus label. About four years after the contest, 14-year-old Sabrina received a five-album deal from the Disney label, catapulting her career out of her Privet Drive closet studio.

sabrinastar99 served as a child's playground and a platform to crown her with financial incentives. She played the part; she got the role.

Sabrina was next in line to serve as another hot-off-the-press Hollywood workhorse. Through her years of corporate work and industry connection, Sabrina would evolve from Karly-With-A-K to scandalous starlet with an estimated $16,000K. Although she was swallowed by the house of mouse, I am comforted that her starlight started with modest beginnings: her talented voice, a supportive family, and a video camera.

…and Bart Simpson's bankroll.

Full Copyright of Cover Image: Courtesy of TenWonderfulGirls (disbanded) - Carly and Karly ep 2! [2:30]

For Part III of The Sabrina Carpenter Slowburn, click here.