Song of the summer, again? Sabrina Carpenter drops ‘Manchild’
The spicy new single follows Carpenter's first new music since the Short n' Sweet deluxe edition
Just as she did with ‘Espresso,‘ Sabrina Carpenter is ready to own another summer. The pop superstar has returned with the new single, ‘Manchild.’
Produced by her collaborator Jack Antonoff, the track opens with a cheeky “Oh boy!” as Carpenter radiates in feel-good disco energy, tearing this guy to shreds. “Manchild, why you always come a-runnin’ to me?/Fuck my life, won’t you let an innocent woman be?” she sings on the chorus. “Never heard of self care/Half your brain just ain’t there/Manchild, why you always come a-runnin’, takin’ all my lovin’ from me?”
Is this the song of the summer? Oh boy, yes.
Carpenter began teasing ‘Manchild’ on Monday, with a clip of her in Daisy Dukes, a white button down, and heels, standing on the side of a dusty dirt road with a suitcase. She sticks her thumb out to hitch a ride, uttering the “Oh boy!” Just as she did with Coachella last year, billboards advertised the single; she also posted a reel of her singing the opening lines to Lana Del Rey’s “Norman Fucking Rockwell”: “Goddamn, manchild.” Get it?
The video for the new track is set to release on Friday at 10 a.m. ET.
In an Instagram post following the single’s release, Carpenter shared a series of behind-the-scenes photos from the upcoming video. The singer-songwriter said she wrote the song “on a random tuesday with amy and jack not too long after finishing short n’ sweet and it ended up being the best random tuesday of my life.”
She said ‘Manchild’ has become “something I can look back on that will score the mental montage to the very confusing and fun young adult years of life,” adding, “it sounds like the song embodiment of a loving eye roll and it feels like a never ending road trip in the summer ! hence why i wanted to give it to you now- so you can stick your head out the car window and scream it all summer long!”
The Grammy winner cheekily ended her post with a message to fans and manchildren: “thank you always and forever for listening and thank you men for testing me!”
Carpenter is releasing ‘Manchild’ on a 7-inch single, with the B side “inside of your head when you’ve just won an argument with a man.” The track marks Carpenter’s first new music since the deluxe edition of Short n’ Sweet, which included a ‘Please Please Please’ duet with Dolly Parton, the fan favorite ‘Busy Woman,’ as well as ’15 Minutes,’ ‘Couldn’t Make It Any Harder,’ and ‘Bad Reviews.’
“Manchild” arrives a day before Carpenter headlines Primavera Sound 2025 in Barcelona, alongside Charli XCX and Chappell Roan. Next month, she’ll perform two nights at London’s Hyde Park, followed by stops at festivals Lollapalooza (Aug. 3) and Austin City Limits (Oct. 4 and Oct. 11). In the fall, she’ll kick off another North American leg of the Short n’ Sweet tour, which includes a return to Madison Square Garden for three shows.