Singular: Act II is the fourth studio album by American singer Sabrina Carpenter, released on July 19, 2019 by Hollywood Records. The album acts as a sequel to her third studio album Singular: Act I (2018) and was her last official release with Hollywood. Recorded and written from 2017 to 2019, Carpenter originally intended to release a full album entitled Singular but ultimately split up the album due to differences in lyrical content. The album is primarily a pop album with elements of R&B and dance-pop, featuring personal topics including anxiety and self-reflection.
Four promotional singles were released for the album including "Pushing 20", "Exhale", "In My Bed", and "I'm Fakin". Additionally, the album features a guest appearance from American rapper Saweetie. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, and debuted at number 138 on the US Billboard 200.
Background and release
In June 2018, Carpenter revealed that her third studio album Singular was completed and that it was scheduled for a winter 2018 release. However, in October, she announced on Twitter that the album would be split into two acts with the first act, Singular: Act I, released on November 9, 2018. After the release of Act I, Carpenter revealed that Act II would be released in early 2019. On the split, Carpenter noted that, I describe Act II as Act I upside down where Act I makes you feel comfortable with yourself and Act II makes you feel a little uncomfortable with yourself, in the way that we need to grow. It's also a more vulnerable side of confidence. There is also confidence in being vulnerable and there is also strength in that weaker side of yourself and just kind of letting your emotions run loose.
Carpenter began teasing Act II in December 2018, noting that she planned to tour for the album. In May 2019, Nylon magazine reported that Carpenter had scheduled July 26, 2019, as the release date for Singular: Act II. On June 4, 2019, Carpenter revealed the album artwork by sending it to her fans in multiple cities around the United States using Apple's AirDrop feature. Later that day, Carpenter formally announced the album via her social media and that the release date had been pushed up to July 19, 2019.
Composition
Genres and themes
The album is primarily a pop, dance-pop and R&B record. It differed to its predecessor album with its heavier lyrical content, in which Carpenter discusses confidence, anxiety, introspection and self-discovery. On the album's artwork, Carpenter noted that she wanted Act II to be a "broken-down, less straightforward version" of Act I. She called the album her most "personal album yet" in an interview with Marie Claire. The album cover is dark and pictures Carpenter in shadows on a fire escape. Carpeter noted, "to me those represented the flaws and the negativity that we let into our lives".
Music and content
The album begins with "In My Bed", an "electro-kissed" and synth-laden song which was called one of her "most eclectic efforts to date". Carpenter noted that the song represents the feeling of overthinking and how life feels when you are overwhelmed by anxiety and other "moments where life feels like a lot to deal". Carpenter described it as "opening the door" to Singular: Act II. This is followed by the album's lead single, "Pushing 20", which was written by Carpenter for her 20th birthday in May 2019 and gained comparisons to works by Rihanna and Alessia Cara. The song was described as a pop song with trap and hip-hop elements, and is a "declaration of reclaimed time". The song also talks about being "older, wiser, and less willing to put up with other people's BS".
"I Can't Stop Me", featuring America rapper Saweetie, is a trap beat song which mixes pop with hip-hop. On the song, Carpenter noted that " it feels like what Singular should feel like". She called the song "experimental" adding that "vocally and lyrically, I’m at a time in my life where there are no limits or rules". This is followed by "I'm Fakin", which has tropical house and pop elements and is about the dissonance "of wanting distance and also making up" in a relationship. Paper writer Brendan Wetmore felt that the song demonstrated Carpenter's "melodic prowess and pushes it to a beastly boundary".