Tate McRae dropped her third studio album for the first time in two years, “So Close To What.” McRae has been dominating the charts with her three singles from the album “It’s ok I’m ok,” “2 hands,” and “Sports car.”
However, the album hit number one on the Billboard 200 and the Artist 100, making it the pop star’s first two number ones. This achievement was all thanks to “So Close To What,” which charted eleven out of thirteen songs.
Now that the album has been out for around a month, I can formulate an opinion on the songs. This album has certified McRae as a prominent pop girly, with a potential VMA coming later this year and a Grammy next year.
The album starts strong with track one, “Miss possessive,” which opens with an adlib from Syndey Sweeney stating, “No, seriously, get your hands off my man.” This song is a great way to open the album, as McRae’s highly publicized relationship with The Kid LAROI fuels the essence of this track. As she states in the chorus, “Yes, I’m Miss Possessive,” letting people know that’s her man. It’s such a fun, danceable track that embodies that early 2000s vibe McRae has been leaning into since some of her tracks on “Think Later.”
A handful of tracks on this album really stood out, including “Revolving Door,” which was teased in November 2024 at a pop-up event in Sydney, Australia. This song, along with “Dear God” and “Greenlight,” were teased at the pop-up. ‘Revolving Door’ has an exceptional music video that brings the mesmerizing dance track to life. McRae also explained in an interview with Billboard this song is inspired by her real-life experiences and how her life feels “like a never-ending revolving door.”
The first thing I noticed about the bridge in “Revolving door” was the line, “I still think about that night out in Boston.” This is highly significant because Boston is mentioned in her previous album, “Think Later,” on the title track; she opens the first verse with “Met you in a night out in Boston.” Boston is a notable city for the pop star, whose fans wonder, “Tate, what happened in Boston?”
This song, along with “Purple lace bra” (my personal favorite), has two of her best bridges; the rhythm, beat, and lyrics are unmatched. The bridges speed up compared to the chorus and verses and portray the intensity of that section of the song immediately felt when the music hits the bridge.
“Purple lace bra” is that song; this song goes beyond the surface of the lyrics. As McRae explained in an interview with Jake Shane and Spotify, the song has a double meaning and the lyrics are essentially how the media portrays her. Lines such as the bridge, “You only listen when I’m undressed,” explain that McRae feels like the media only takes her seriously when she’s sexualizing herself. However, these lyrics can be applied to real-life situations. Some girls may feel that way, making this song relatable for listeners.
Two of the most notable things on the album are the two collaborations on this album, “Bloodonmyhands ft: Flo Milli” and “I know love ft: The Kid LAROI.” These two collaborations are so vastly different but equally just as good. Fans have been hoping for a collab between LAROI and McRae since it was public that the two were together. While the song has mixed reviews from fans, I think the song is everything that the two envisioned and is such a perfectly crafted collab.
Another track that has received mixed opinions is “Bloodonmyhands ft Flo Milli.” While repetitive, it’s so catchy and scratches the right itch in my brain, especially in the chorus, the way McRae says “up so hard” is just perfection. Having Milli on the song was a fun direction to add to the album, as some songs on “Think Later” (such as “Exes”) have a slight rapping verse on them. So McRae getting a rapper on her track was a long time coming.
Two more tracks that stood out to me were “Dear god” and “Like I do.” “Dear god” has an immaculate post-chorus that has made it an instant favorite among fans. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a song with a post-chorus that has me hooked like this song does. This portion of the song has been teased since shortly after Christmas of last year, with fans eagerly anticipating the track’s debut.
“Like I do” truly leans into the Brittany Spears-style song. The first thought I had after I listened to the song for the first time was “This reminds me of ‘Baby One More Time’ by Spears.” She decided to use a speaking track as the bridge, which I felt really leaned into the Spears-esque style. The opening chorus of the song just has such an infectious beat that even with a repetitive chorus, it’s so addicting.
However, the two most notable tracks are the two that weren’t included on streaming and are physical media editions only. “Better than I was” and “Call my bluff” weren’t included on streaming after the album was leaked in its entirety a month and a half before the album was set to release. The two songs (excluding the collaborations) that were added following the leak were “Like I do” and “Means I care.” I prefer the two that she decided to keep on streaming. However, I think “Better than I was” leans into that more “Exes” style song which I think would’ve done well on streaming. Ultimately it was McRae’s decision to determine what to keep, add, and take off of the album following the leak.
In an unusual fashion compared to McRae’s last two albums, it lacks ballads, with just three of them. “Greenlight,” Nostalgia,” and “Call My Bluff” (which is only on physical media) serve as the three. While the lack of ballads is attributed to the fact she is in a happy relationship with LAROI; McRae even states herself in her song “cut my hair,” “sad girl bit got a little boring” expressing she was getting tired of writing sad songs. The strongest of the three is the album’s closer “Nostalgia” which talks about her childhood, growing up, and how waves of nostalgia can make you sad when you sit and think about it for a while, which I think is a touching way to close the album.
McRae released what might be the album of the year, as “Think Later” made her more mainstream. “So Close To What” will hopefully be the album that gets that girl her flowers at the Grammys, and the VMAs. I believe this album is extremely stacked and will hopefully replicate the career success of “The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess” by Chappell Roan, for McRae. The fun, and flirtiness of the album, that was ultimately robbed at this year’s previous Grammys.
I would rate this album a solid 9/10, there are a few minor things that stop this album from being a ten, but I still love and adore this album and hope it gives McRae her first music award.
