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Sabrina Carpenter just crossed off another career milestone. On December 20 the “Good Graces” singer's debut NPR Tiny Desk Concert was released on YouTube, and earlier this month, Teen Vogue visited the NPR headquarters to witness her set live.
The NPR Tiny Desk Concert has grown to be revered as a marker of a new precipice in an artist's career; it's a big break, seized momentum, or a mainstream introduction. Now, Carpenter has joined the ranks of some of the most interesting and successful musicians of our time. Due to its bare, acoustic setup, many artists use their Tiny Desk Concert as an opportunity to reimagine their sound or flip some of their biggest hits — and this year, Carpenter had nothing but big hits.
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After releasing her sixth studio album Short n' Sweet, Carpenter has become synonymous with modern pop. Just this year, she went from opening for Taylor Swift to headlining sold-out arenas across the country, all in the span of a few months.
We needed to be in the room where it happens. As an OG fan — one who spent hours jamming to “Can't Blame a Girl for Trying” — seeing Carpenter so intimately on a regular, wintry Monday felt special. Prior to this performance, I'd seen her perform in larger settings: at Teen Vogue Summit 2022 and her Brooklyn stop of the Short n' Sweet Tour. Third time's the charm; Carpenter's Tiny Desk Concert was a treat.
Before the show began, we got to see Carpenter rehearse a few of her numbers, including “Juno.” If you’re anywhere near TikTok, then you’ve probably seen an endless compilation of her varying “Juno” positions. We watched as she did a trial run of positions, hilariously pressing her hips into a chime.
When Carpenter came out for her actual set, the NPR staff squealed with excitement. Although they have the perks of being the only attendees of Tiny Desk Concerts, they aren’t made aware of the musical guest's identity until they arrive. After asking if they all liked working at NPR, Carpenter joked that she wants to work there, too. She then made her entire band introduce themselves with both their names and height — after making a “tall” joke, Carpenter took off her ultra-high heels and could no longer reach the microphone. The Tiny Desk was almost as small as her.
As a Southern girl myself, it was fun to hear Carpenter lean heavily into the country-inspired twang she's used on some records, reimagining a few of her songs with this artistic vocal choice during her set. Although Carpenter isn't a country star, those influences leaped out during this unplugged performance.
That's the true fun of a Tiny Desk Concert: watching the ways in which an artist can make their songs come alive in even the smallest of venues. During her set, Carpenter noted that she was in her “element,” as the cozy office environment is akin to what she usually seeks when writes her songs.
Carpenter performed “Taste,” “Bed Chem,” “Please Please Please,” “Espresso,” “Slim Pickins” and fan-favorite “Juno.” The new violin arrangements added for “Bed Chem” were a creative twist the song so desperately deserved. Carpenter also shared some of the backstory on how “Bed Chem” came to be.
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When she and her best friend Paloma were sharing a bed during one of their sleepovers, and she made note of how they always managed to fall asleep at the exact same time, never kicking each other or snoring. “We have really good bed chem,” Carpenter recalled telling Paloma. “I then met a guy and said ‘We’d have really good bed chem in a different way.'”
After witnessing the magic up-close, it's plain to see why Sabrina Carpenter has had an explosive year. ICYDK: At the end of each performance, most artists leave a token of their appreciation behind on the eclectic and slightly overflowing Tiny Desk. Carpenter left a bedazzled (espresso) martini glass with a red lipstick kiss on it — a nod to both the lipstick kiss on her album cover and, of course, her 2025 Grammy-nominated single.
Watch Sabrina Carpenter's full Tiny Desk Concert below:
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