Is Tate McRae our new pop princess? She’s certainly trying.
On “cut my hair,” the opening track of her sophomore album “THINK LATER,” McRae reflects on how the “sad girl bit got a little boring,” nodding to her past hits like “One Day,” “you broke me first,” and “chaotic.” Her earlier music, with its slower tempos and melancholic vibe, firmly cemented McRae’s place in the ‘sad girl pop’ genre.
“No one has ever seen a different side of me,” McRae told Variety. “All they’ve seen is victim, depressed Tate. Sometimes you grow up and things change, and I got bored of it.”
With tracks such as “exes” and “greedy,” McRae showed her ability to step out of her sad-girl persona, hinting at a new, more fiery side. “THINK LATER” embraced the Y2K pop vibe of icons like Britney Spears, Nelly Furtado and Christina Aguilera. With her latest album “So Close to What,” McRae has only expanded on this image, refining her dirty, breathy pop sound. The album is punchier and more mature, and leans further into her sultry persona.
“I feel so much more confident in my taste and the way I am as a person,” McRae said in an interview with The Independent about the new release. “It’s a bit more on the nose about things that I probably wouldn’t have said last year as a 20-year-old.”
She is not wrong –– the album is certainly more risqué. In “Dear god,” McRae sings, “With my hands on my chest and my knees on the carpet/ Hopin’ you’ll stop it.” In “Sports Car,” she provocatively croons, “We can uh-uh in it/ While you drive it real far.” McRae jokingly credits her “alter-ego” Tatiana for these daring lyrics, bringing a bold new side to her music.
“So Close to What” offers some standout moments. “Sports car” cleverly uses a sports car as a metaphor to explore sex and desire, with McRae’s breathy vocals channeling Britney Spears’ whispered hooks for a dose of nostalgia. Meanwhile, “No I’m not in love” bursts with punchy energy and is tailor-made for a girls’ night out with its catchy, carefree vibe.
“Revolving door,” powered by Jersey club energy, sees McRae lamenting her inability to break free from a toxic relationship. Her vocals shine here, her voice sleek and glossy. The song starts rhythmic, building in intensity as McRae’s vocals shift from calm to frantic — a reflection of the emotional chaos in the lyrics. She ends the bridge with raw emotion, singing, “I’m supposed to be an adult, but f--- it, I need a minute.”
Another standout, “Purple lace bra,” touches on McRae’s struggles to be taken seriously as an attractive woman. While the track is sultry in sound and McRae’s voice takes center stage, the lyrics themselves reveal a deeper sadness: “I’m losin’ my mind ‘cause giving you head’s/ The only time you think I got depth.” Perhaps McRae is also pointedly critiquing the music industry.
The album concludes with “Nostalgia,” a fittingly sobering and spiritual track. McRae’s lyrics here are introspective: “And now, I bite my tongue 10 times a day/ Half swear to God, I might just pray.” Despite being a closing track, “Nostalgia” is a surprise highlight, offering some variety from the rest of the discography.
Unfortunately, despite its more cohesive sound compared to McRae’s earlier work, “So Close to What” doesn’t quite reach its full potential. The opening track “Miss possessive” promises to be interesting, with McRae cattily competing with other women over her man. However, it lacks the intensity expected from such a premise and feels a bit silly. Other tracks, like “Greenlight” and “Like I do,” blur together and feel like filler intended to extend the album. “Means I care” is a fun listen and most definitely is for the girls struggling with anxious attachment, but the production feels chaotic, overstimulating and anxiety-inducing for a song that would work better with a slower tempo.
The album features two collaborations, but both fall short. “I know love,” featuring The Kid LAROI (McRae’s current beau), offers no creativity and is reminiscent of the blandest couple you know from high school. The pair sing “We started off friends, how we end up here?/ I don’t know, but I don’t see no problems” and “I know love when it hits, when it hits, when it hits.” It’s hard to not yawn. Meanwhile, on “bloodonmyhands,” McRae fades into the background as Flo Milli steals the spotlight with her biting lyrics: “Got a new man to please, fallin’ for you is a damn disease.”
“So Close to What” is certainly McRae’s most cohesive album yet; it is fun and catchy, but ultimately largely forgettable. In an age dominated by pop princesses like Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo, McRae isn’t redefining pop music or offering much variety. Rather, she seems to be cultivating a Y2K, dirty, breathy pop image which leaves much of her music feeling more curated than memorable. Is “So Close to What” bad by any means? Not at all — but it’s unlikely to remain in my heavy rotation for much longer.
