Singular: Act I

Singular: Act I is Sabrina Carpenter's third studio album, released on November 9, 2018 through Hollywood Records. It was the first album on which she co-wrote every single track, a creative milestone that signaled her full arrival as an autonomous artist rather than a performer working from other people's material.^[1]

The album was conceived as the first half of a two-part artistic statement. Act I focuses on exterior confidence, the face Carpenter presents to the world, and the clarity of self-worth that comes from choosing yourself in the face of doubt or diminishment. Act II, released in July 2019, would turn inward to examine the anxiety and vulnerability that exists behind that confident exterior.^[2]

Carpenter began writing material for the record in 2016, immediately following her second album EVOLution, and continued as her Disney Channel series Girl Meets World concluded in early 2017. The album represents her first major step into post-Disney artistic identity, trading the lighter textures of her earlier records for polished dance-pop production.^[1]

The eight-track collection debuted at number 103 on the Billboard 200. It earned strong critical notices: Affinity Magazine called it a "brand-new pop masterpiece," while AllMusic awarded it 3.5 out of 5 stars and The Line of Best Fit scored it 7.5 out of 10, describing it as "her arrival as a fully-fledged star." Lead singles "Almost Love" and "Sue Me" both reached number one on the US Dance Club Songs chart.^[3]