Tate McRae has been a topic of discussion for a long period of time. Uploading songs on YouTube and making her debut officially in 2017, McRae’s journey to stardom has been quite interesting to say the least. She has worked hard, from being a dancer on shows like So You Think You Can Dance to uploading singing videos on YouTube, and officially debuting in 2020 by releasing the EP All the Things I Never Said. Tate McRae has mixed her dancing skills with her music, emphasising her versatility and labelling her as a good performer who actually puts on a show. No one else does it like her.
She is also tagged the Britney Spears of this generation by many, so you’d expect people to consider her as one of the “main pop girls”. But do they? Some do, and some don’t. This has created a huge discourse across social media for years and, with the release of her third studio album, it begs the question: is Tate McRae there yet?
So Close To What follows her sophomore album THINK LATER with a more mature, upbeat sound. “Sad girl bit got a little boring” – a line from THINK LATER opening track cut my hair – is heavily applied in this album as she opens the track with Miss possessive, which is a song about, well, being possessive… of her partner. It is such a daring track and quite a wake-up song to begin the album with. And using actress Sydney Sweeney’s voice to start it? Iconic.
This upbeat sound is what we see throughout this album, but this doesn’t take away the vulnerability from it as we see her pour her heart out in tracks like Revolving door – releasing a simple yet beautiful and emotional music video with incredible choreography.
We see McRae evolve with So Close To What, seemingly finding her own sound and leaving behind the sad girl music we could hear in THINK LATER and dominantly in i used to think i could fly – her debut album. Confidence is portrayed in songs like 2 hands, bloodonmyhands – which contains a Flo Milli feature – Sports car, and It’s ok, I’m ok.
Purple lace bra is a song that may seem sexual, edgy, and lighthearted at first but, with proper concentration on the lyrics, you can see a bit of vulnerability as she talks about only being listened to by a partner (and/or the world presumably) when she’s being inherently sexual.
And oh, what’s that? The classic “if I say this, I mean that”. That’s what we see in Signs, which is a song about saying or doing something with the intention of meaning something contradictory. It is an enjoyable and catchy song, so that excuses the overused idea.
I know love – a song with her boyfriend The Kid Laroi – is a cute and sweet song, but kind of fails to live up to the bar that the other songs in the album set. It feels like a filler song and a song the cheerleader and the jock just put together to let the whole school know that they’re in love. It’s not necessarily bad, just not as good as the other songs.
We see McRae sing about not being in love with a certain person in a way that shows she’s clearly in love with said person in No I’m not in love – a song about denying your feelings or refusing to admit them. It’s a really good song, but I don’t support that idea though. Never hide your feelings. Life’s too short.
The production on this album is quite good, entertaining, and catchy. It sounds more mature than her previous work and you can clearly see the growth in it. The songwriting is also arguably better than her previous work. Overall, it is such a creative album.
With this album topping the charts – including topping the Billboard Hot 100 – breaking records, and adding more and more dates to her upcoming tour, it’s safe to say that Tate McRae has achieved the “main pop girl” status. Her versatility is unmatched and she has finally found her sound with this album.
So to answer the question, yes, Tate McRae is there now. She has achieved a high status in the pop world and also did this without opening for any big artists’ tour. It is an enjoyable album and I urge you to give it a listen. Also watch her music videos and see what I am talking about. You’d be tempted to see her live. I know I am. Seeing her, that is. I am seeing her live.
So Close To What is available across streaming platforms.
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