If one were to make a collage of the early 2000s pop with the edgy and memorable music videos, dance-filled rich performances, and that Britney Spears-esque star aura…the finished vision board would look a lot like Tate McRae.
The Canadian singer’s third studio album ‘‘So Close To What’’ has officially been out since February 21st, with minor alterations to it since then including the bonus track ‘‘Siren sounds.” During the busy release week, McRae was the musical guest on SNL, made her late-night show debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and officially earned her first No.1 on the Billboard Artist 100. Though this album puts her on the spotlight more than ever, she’s been making noteworthy hits for a long time. Since her instant success with ‘‘you broke me first’’ in 2020, McRae has been on the radar in the pop-verse with an impressive catalog including ‘‘She’s All I Wanna Be,’’ ‘‘Greedy,’’ and ‘‘Exes.’’.
Her sophomore album ‘‘Think Later’’ may not have gotten the as widespread recognition that ‘‘So Close To What’’ is now getting, but it was an integral foundation for this new era. Known to be a dance prodigy from a young age, McRae always finds ways to implement intense choreography to her videos and performances; though it definitely became more of a focus during the ‘‘Think Later’’ era. And with ‘‘So Close,’’ she enhances this in a way that feels more intentional and prioritized than ever, as the album is clearly constructed in a way to allow more space in songs for her dance breaks.
‘‘So Close To What’’ follows the recipe for Y2K-reminiscent pop but also does a great job of differentiating McRae from fellow pop girls like Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Gracie Abrams. Most songs on ‘‘So Close To What’’ wouldn’t work or even make it on a Carpenter or Rodrigo album, because that particular production approach naturally aligns with McRae’s attitude and image.
While McRae brings something unique to the table among her peers, she does so by bringing back something far more familiar. The originally 15-track album is easily a no-skip project with McRae’s signature catchy hooks and a blend of early 2000s R&B meets nostalgic dance-pop. Firstly, the album opener ‘‘Miss Possessive’’ gets an A+ in every way. It instantly sparks the bold energy that radiates from the album. Despite the few songs that sound more like promising demos or snippets from McRae’s TikTok than complete tunes, the album is exactly what it promised. It’s sexy, confident, and illustrates the fun and chaotic girl in her 20s making the same wrong decisions, having new crushes while revisiting the past, partying, snapping at times, and reflecting on all of it.
Especially standout songs like ‘‘Revolving door,’’, ‘‘Dear god,’’ ‘‘Sports car,’’ ‘‘Like I do,’’ and ‘‘No I’m not in love’’ make this album her most evolved and both musically and personally mature one yet.
McRae had one of the more intimate conversations about the new album in a recent episode of close friend Jake Shane’s podcast ‘‘Therapuss.’’ While Shane asked some questions about her creative process, he also admitted to initially assuming the song ‘‘Purple lace bra’’ was a straightforward song about a romantic relationship. McrRae then revealed the song actually describes her confusing and invasive relationship with the media. ‘‘Okay am I feeling confident and sexual or am I feeling sexualized right now? I really don’t know the difference,’’ she explains. The emotional track 5 almost has a dark striptease feel to it and vulnerably depicts McRae’s female rage against the media.
The hidden gem of ‘‘So Close To What’’ are the lyrics that get overshadowed at times by the overly produced tracks. This allows the upbeat, dancey hits to climb the charts but causes some of McRae’s writing (also vocals) to get less attention than deserved. When listened in-depth with more focus on the lyrics, it’s evident these songs are born from a reflective popstar’s journal entries. In ‘‘Think Later,’’ the ‘Tatiana’ alter-ego that comes out in certain songs adds some spice to the album, complementing Tate’s songwriting. With ‘‘So Close To What,’’ there is so much Tatiana persona, purposefully, that you crave more of McRae this time or notice the absence at least. Still, we surely get some Tate-dominance in ‘‘Nostalgia’’ and ‘‘Greenlight.’’ But overall, this album is new territory as it’s missing McRae’s softer heartbreak ballads, ‘‘You Broke Me First,’’ ‘‘Feel Like Shit,” ‘‘Messier,’’ and ‘‘Grave,” letting the sassier bops like ‘‘2 hands,’’ ‘‘bloodonmyhands (featuring Flo Milli),” and ‘‘I know love (featuring The Kid LAROI)” have their moment instead.
McRae doesn’t aim to redefine her genre or release a body of work that’s textbook cohesive under the same theme. As an artist who truly understands the assignment when it comes to performing on a pop-star level, what she excels at is confidently bringing back and showcasing that beloved pop culture to the fullest with her entire branding.
Listen to ‘‘So Close To What’’: