Everything Sabrina Carpenter Appears to Reveal About Shawn Mendes & His Ex Camila Cabello on New Album Short n’ Sweet

Sabrina Carpenter may not be naming names on her new album Short n' Sweet, but the lyrics on her new album speak volumes on their own.

On Short n' Sweet, which was released on Friday, Aug. 23, the pop star, 25, appears to make a series of thinly veiled references to her reported relationship with Shawn Mendes — and his on-off ex Camila Cabello.

Carpenter was rumored to be dating Mendes in February 2023, though he denied the alleged romance in an interview just a month later. And while Carpenter doesn't name-check him directly, songs on the record seem to be inspired by Mendes.

On the album opener "Taste," Carpenter seems to reference Mendes, who has often been photographed shirtless, when she says: "You're wonderin' why half his clothes went missin' / My body's where they at."

She also sings about being in the middle of a lover's on-again, off-again relationship, which could be pointing to Mendes and Cabello's romance, which ended in 2021 after more than two years of dating but briefly heated up again in 2023.

"I heard you're back together and if that's true / You'll just have to taste me when he's kissin' you / If you want forever, I bet you do / Just know you'll taste me too," Carpenter sings.

Later, on "Sharpest Tool," Carpenter takes aim at an ex for going back to a previous relationship, which could point to Mendes, who was spotted kissing Cabello, 27, in April 2023: just two months after Carpenter was said to be spending time with Mendes. "We never talk about how you / Found God at your ex's house, always / Made sure that the phone was face-down / Seems like overnight, I'm just the bitch you hate now."

It's also possible that Carpenter is referring to another rumored ex, Joshua Bassett, to whom she was linked in 2020 and sparked breakup rumors in 2021, as he has been public about becoming more in touch with his own spirituality, per Billboard.

But Carpenter could also be making another subtle dig at Mendes, who has been known to spend time in nature to treat his anxiety, when she sings on that same track: "I know you're not / The sharpest tool in the shed / We had sex, I met your best friends / Then a bird flies by and you forget."

"Coincidence" seemingly touches on an alleged love triangle, perhaps between herself, Mendes and Cabello, as Carpenter says a lover's ex has "a real sixth sense" for when they're together. "Now her name comes up once, then it comes up twice / And without her even bein' here, she's back in your life / Now she's in the same damn city on the same damn night," Carpenter remarks.

Elsewhere on the song, Carpenter's lyrics could be informed by Mendes and Cabello's Coachella reunion, as she shouts out its desert locale: "What a surprise, your phone just died / Your car drove itself from L.A. to her thighs / Palm Springs looks nice, but who's by your side? / Damn it, she looks kinda like the girl you outgrew."

Lastly, "Dumb & Poetic" seems to target an ex who is comfortable in his masculinity and enjoys meditation but can be manipulative. However, the title seems to be an umbrella term for a certain type of romantic interest Carpenter falls for repeatedly.

On that track, Carpenter declares that this person “jacks off to lyrics by Leonard Cohen.” The legendary singer-songwriter was famously a Canadian, like Mendes.

She also notes that this subject believes they had a mental and spiritual awakening by taking mushrooms ("And I promise the mushrooms aren't changing your life"), and Mendes recently revealed at a London show that he experimented with the substance on his path to self-discovery, per The Sun.

However, it could also be more of a general reference — or directed toward Bassett, 23, who told The Zach Sang Show earlier this month that he saw Jesus when he took Ayahuasca.