-Welcome back to "The Tonight Show."
-Thank you. -This is interesting.
It's your first time sitting here.
-I've never sat on this couch. -No, but you performed.
-It's comfy, yeah. -It is comfy.
-Yeah, very nice. -I'm so happy to see you
and you talk to you. -Me too.
-Last time I saw you were -- it was a few months ago.
You performed "Skinny Dipping." -Yes.
-Which was one of my all-time jams.
I love that song. -You talked about it
longer than I did. -I was obsessed.
-And I wrote it, yeah. -I'm obsessed with that song.
-Thank you. -I love it so much.
I love the -- I love the conversation of it,
-The looseness of it. -The first verse.
-That first verse, for me, was the one I go, like,
"What is this song?" -Yeah.
-'Cause it kind of is like -- almost like, it sets the stage.
It was almost like Paul Simony. Can I play a little bit?
-Oh, you have it on lock, yeah.
♪ It'll be Wednesday ♪
♪ I'll be going to this coffee shop ♪
♪ Hear the barista call an oatmilk latte in your name ♪
♪ And I look up from my phone ♪
♪ And think there's no chance it's you, but it is ♪
♪ You'll say hi ♪ -All right, that's good.
Say, "Hi. How are you?" Yeah, I love that.
All right, we can stop. But that's --
Dude, I love how -- [ Applause ]
I go, "What is this song?"
It felt like I was having a conversation with someone.
I loved it so much. -That's the point.
And it's supposed to feel a little awkward.
'Cause, like, when you have those, like, encounters
where you run into people unexpectedly,
and it's the worst thing in the world
but also the best 'cause it's life, you know?
It's really beautiful. -And then you miss
the good times and all --
It turns into the most beautiful song.
-Thanks. -I love that.
You also -- You confirmed that an album
is coming out this year. -Yes.
-But you haven't released any details at all.
-I, actually -- It's funny. Because I've hidden
the album name somewhere in work
that I've put out over the last year,
but my fans haven't found it yet.
-Oh, really? -Yeah.
They haven't found it yet. So...
-That's the new thing people are doing.
They, like -- you Easter egg different things.
And so, someone -- it's out there,
the name of the album. -It is.
-Hmm. Does it have anything to do with --
You sent me something, a secret file yesterday,
that I had to delete. And it deleted after --
-Oh, I sent that to you? -Yeah.
-Can you imagine? I, like, didn't mean
to send it to you? -Yeah.
-Oh, no, yeah, I did. And that would be
my new song... -Yes.
-...called... -Can I say what it's called?
-Yeah. [ Drumroll ]
-"Fast Times"? -It's called "Fast Times." Yeah.
-I didn't know if I could say it.
I'm like -- I'm living in a world where --
-I would so prefer you say it. -I'm living in a world
where I'm afraid to say what's gonna happen on
"This Is Us." -I am, too.
-I don't know what's gonna happen.
All of these Marvel movies. -Oh, yeah.
-I don't know if I can talk about your new song.
-Yeah. -"Fast Times," I love it.
-Thank you. -Thank you for sending it to me.
-Thank you. You liked it? -I loved it.
As soon as I was done, I wanted to hear it again.
And -- no. -That's a good sign, yeah.
-No, it's gone. It left.
-Oh! Oh, you could only listen once?
-Yeah, it deleted itself. -Oh, I love my team.
-Are there hidden things in that song?
-You know, it's kind of funny.
I feel like it's something that -- a few artists do it.
And I think I just really have had an amazing relationship
with my fans over the years, and they love being detectives.
So, I like playing into it. -Yeah.
-Yeah, and then you can find the name of my album,
and you can, you know, announce it.
'Cause it's out there. -All right, I'm gonna find it.
-Yeah, that's your homework. -All right, that's my homework.
I'm gonna do it, yeah. -Okay.
-Do you record most of it in New York?
-I did. I kind of moved to New York
in hopes of finishing the record just because, you know, like,
you do that thing when you're 20,
and you're like, "I have to move to New York."
-Of course. -So I did it.
And when I was here --
Obviously, the energy is just so different from anywhere else.
I grew up on the East Coast,
but New York is a different beast.
And there was one night in particular --
And this is how, like, a song came to be.
I was on my fire escape, and my friend had a harmonica.
And so I went out and started playing harmonica,
which I can't do very well.
And there were was a lot of drunk men down on the streets.
And they were like, "Play us Billy Joel!"
And I was like, "I can't do that."
I don't -- I'm not that good. -They were asking for requests?
-Yeah, song requests. And --
-Billy Joel. -Yeah, which is, you know --
-Famous harmonica player -- -Exactly.
-Billy Joel, yeah. -I was like,
"I am not Billy Joel." -Yeah, you don't have
a piano here but -- -No, my friend came out
with his guitar, and we were -- we grew, like,
a little audience for the night. It was really fun.
-That is so New York. -It was so sweet, yeah.
-That is exactly what you do. -Yeah.
-And how long did the concert last?
-You know, we had two -- what do they call them?
Stranglers? Like, not "stranglers."
Oh, my God, that's terrible. Stragglers!
-Stragglers. -Stragglers.
-Who knows, who knows? It's New York.
It's New York. They could have been stranglers.
[ Laughter ] We don't know.
You got to be careful.
Sabrina, it's your first time in New York.
-My first time on your show, too, obviously.
-Yeah, yeah. No, they -- yeah.
They could've been stranglers, yeah.
So, I'm glad you're up on the fire escape.
-Yeah, yeah. I was up. -Away from the stranglers, yeah.
Can we talk about "Emergency"?
-Yes. -This is giant.
It's gonna premiere at Sundance. -Yeah.
-Sundance Film Festival is major.
-Yeah, I -- It's kind of crazy saying it.
It's an amazing film.
It's based on a short film that won at Sundance last year.
And, basically, it's like a dark comedy thriller,
but it touches on, you know,
just the fear in our communities,
especially with young people of color regarding the police.
And, yeah, it's premiering at the end of the month,
and I'm so excited for people to see it.
-And this year, it's gonna be also virtual, as well.
So, January 20th, look out for "Emergency."
Thank you so much for coming on. -Thank you.
-And if you dropped any Easter eggs --
I don't know if you did -- -Can you imagine, like,
throughout this interview, I just said things?
-Yeah. We don't even know.
[ Laughter ]
All right? Get ready for it.
[ Cheers and applause ] [ Both laugh ]
Sabrina Carpenter, "Emergency," will premiere
at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20th.