"Espresso" is one of the catchiest pop songs we've ever heard, an earworm that strikes like a heat-seeking missile. The hook is "that's that me espresso," which is something nobody had ever said before in real life but flows right into our musical receptors. The verse lyrics are filled with little bon mots that keep things interesting:
My give-a-f--ks are on vacation
...
I know I Mountain Dew it for ya
Sabrina Carpenter delivers it with a coy sincerity honed from her years as an actress. She starred on the Disney series Girl Meets World for three seasons, starting in 2015 when she was 15.
The storyline in the song finds Carpenter gushing about a new boyfriend, but she throws in a delightfully odd metaphor: this fella's got her on the brain like a triple shot of espresso. Apparently, the guy can't sleep a wink, his mind buzzing with thoughts of her, and she knows it. The lyrics brag about how she made this lucky dude's dreams come true. (With a slight dig at his ex, who apparently wasn't quite cutting the mustard.)
Too bad your ex don't do it for ya
Walked in and dream-came-trued it for ya
The overall vibe is pure cotton candy – she knows he's head over heels, and she finds it absolutely adorable. Laughter, shared moments, lives intertwined – it's all there.
In real life, Carpenter was linked to the actor Barry Keoghan around this time, but he wasn't the inspiration for it.
Ariana Grande might have claimed she needed coffee to stay awake for a marathon love session in her 2020 hit "
34+35," but on "Espresso" Carpenter ups the ante. She declares herself the coffee – the irresistible jolt that'll keep any potential lover wide-eyed and wired with anticipation.
Carpenter wrote the frothy disco-pop tune with Amy Allen (whom she co-wrote "
Feather" with), and her "
Nonsense" collaborators Steph Jones and writer/producer Julian Bunetta.
Inspiration for the song struck in July 2023 when Carpenter was on tour in France and visited a cafe that served espresso. From there, the song began to take shape. "This was one of those times in my life where it was just like, I just thought I was the s--t in the moment," Carpenter told Apple Music. "And I think you don't always feel that way, so you kind of have to capture those moments that you do because that's how you find those little..."
"For me, equating it to caffeine and that addiction was really fun and I definitely have a caffeine addiction as it is," she added. "So it really ends up being a full circle for me."
The accompanying music video, directed by Dave Meyers (whose resumé boasts the likes of Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, and Harry Styles), takes a rather unexpected turn. It opens with Carpenter, our caffeinated temptress, in full-on beach bunny mode, pulling off a cheeky heist – swiping a wallet and commandeering a motorboat! But fear not, fans of wholesome entertainment, for justice prevails.
"The song is kind of about seeing femininity as your super power, and embracing the confidence of being that b—-,"
Carpenter told Vogue. "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."
An espresso is a concentrated coffee beverage that is brewed by forcing hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee beans. The result is a small, strong shot of coffee with a rich flavor and a layer of crema on top. Here are some songs that talk about an espresso either literally or as a metaphor:
1963 "
Sugar Shack" by The Fireballs ("Espresso coffee tastes mighty good. That's not the reason why I've got to get back to that sugar shack.")
2008 "
Love is The Key" by Girls Aloud ("You're more an Espresso shot. Life and soul of the party.")
2011 "
Discoverer" by R.E.M. ("Remember the vodka-espresso night of discovery? Remember that. Laughing Discovery Oh how I look back and reflect.")
2014 "
Word Crimes" by Weird Al Yankovic ("No "x" in "espresso" Your participle's danglin' But I don't want your drama. If you really wanna. Leave out that Oxford comma.")
2019 "
Details" by Billy Currington ("Iced mocha latte, one shot espresso. That you stir with your left hand.")
2022 "
Middle Of The Ocean" by Drake ("The first martini is an espresso. Chill shot glasses with prosecco.")
"Espresso" took a little time to brew. It was released on April 11, 2024 and climbed to #3 in the US on June 22, the same week Carpenter's next single, "
Please Please Please," climbed to #2. The next week, "Espresso" fell to #6 while "Please Please Please" hit the top spot.
But "Espresso" kept hanging around as the days got hotter, and even though it never went to #1, it made a claim to "song of the summer."
In the UK, "Espresso" jolted to the top of the Official Singles Chart on May 5, 2024, giving Carpenter her first #1 single in that country. The frothy, funk-infused song is the first caffeine-based UK #1 single since All Saints' "
Black Coffee" reached the summit in 2000.
Sabrina Carpenter
performed the song on the May 18, 2024, episode of
Saturday Night Live, her musical guest debut on the show. She also sang "
Feather" and "
Nonsense" as a medley.
Turns out, Barry Keoghan might have low-key predicted his girlfriend Sabrina Carpenter's musical career... a decade before it even happened!
Diehard Keoghan fans unearthed some cryptic tweets from the actor. One, from November 2014, reads: "This time last year I told you that I would be an Espresso Addict." Fast forward to 2024, and Carpenter releases "Espresso." Coincidence? Maybe not!
But the plot thickens. In July 2013, Keoghan tweeted: "Can someone Please please please lend me The Sopranos." Guess what? Carpenter's follow-up smash, "Please Please Please," dropped in June 2024, with a music video starring Keoghan himself!
Spooky, right? These tweets had fans buzzing about whether Keoghan is a master of manifestation or just happened to stumble onto some prophetic phrasing.
Carpenter was just 24 when "Espresso" was released as a single, but she already had five albums in her discography. Her biggest hit to this point was "
Feather," which reached #21 in 2023. By this time, most of us no longer thought of her as Maya from
Girl Meets World.
"Espresso" vaulted her to headliner status and put her in the conversation with the likes of Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande. She was already very well media trained, so she handled the transition better than most.
One-word titles that end with a long "o" sound can make powerful pop songs, but it's not easy to pull off. There are only so many words that end with that sound, and they're hard to fit into a story. The Beach Boys made up an island for their 1988 smash "
Kokomo," and Abba created a character for "
Fernando" in 1976. And then there's the 2016 inescapable song "
Despacito," which turns to Spanish.
"Espresso" has that same mouth feel with the benefit of being a real word in the English dictionary.
Did you think Carpenter was singing "Expresso"? You're not the only one. When Megan Thee Stallion hosted the MTV Video Music Awards in 2024, she admitted that she thought the song was called "Expresso."
Carpenter performed the song at the ceremony, where it won for Song Of The Year. Her performance found her descending to a set that revealed another planet, where a group of hot astronauts became Carpenter's backup dancers and she smooched an alien. The astronauts were a good fit for MTV's motif and the "moonman" trophy they award at the show.
This won Best Song at the 2024 MTV EMAs. Sabrina Carpenter was nominated in three other categories, but "Espresso" was her only win of the night.
"Espresso" was the second most-streamed song globally on Spotify in 2024, racking up over 1.77 billion streams. It was just behind Billie Eilish's "
Birds Of A Feather," which boasted 1.78 billion streams.
The success of "Espresso" came as a surprise to Sabrina Carpenter. "I remember deciding to release this song at the start of summer, even though espresso and coffee feel more like fall vibes,"
she shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
"I wasn't sure if it would resonate with anyone, but the sentiment, the sound, and the confidence the song carries were things I really believed in," Carpenter explained.
She added with a laugh, "Honestly, I had no idea if anyone else would like it. But I liked it, and at that moment, that was enough for me. It's something I try to remind myself of again and again."
For Carpenter, songs with minimal room for breath, like "Espresso," are more challenging to perform live than songs with powerful belting. Despite this, she enjoys showcasing her vocal range on stage.
In 2025 Carpenter copped to the song's ubiquity, saying, "Everywhere I turn there's some Espresso sign, and now I just assume they're all about my song."
Carpenter sang "Espresso" at the Grammy Awards in 2025, starting the song off in a comedic jazzy style before turning into song-and-dance number, segueing into "Please Please Please."
"Espresso" won for Best Pop Solo Performance, and the Mark Ronson x FnZ Working Late remix took Best Remixed Recording. The song lost Record Of The Year to Kendrick Lamar's "
Not Like Us," but
Short n' Sweet took Best Pop Vocal Album.
Carpenter will enjoy an espresso from time to time, but she prefers yerba mate, an herbal tea from South America.
