By Tom W Clarke
Tate McRae: So close, yet still so far.
Tate McRae, So Close to What
Sex-forward, female-led dance pop is the sound of the moment. The past twelve months belonged to the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan, whose respective releases were immensely popular, sonically intoxicating, and transgressive in their own way, blowing up across the globe.
Canadian rising star Tate McRae has been clutching at the same sphere for years now, across her 2022 debut I Used to Think I Could Fly and its follow-up, 2023’s Think Later. She’s fresh off a successful showing in this year’s Hottest 100, where she scored three songs – It’s OK I’m OK, 2 Hands, and Sports Car – in a countdown dominated by danceable pop.
Those impressive singles, as well as the variety showcased on Think Later, suggested something fresh and exciting was coming. But her third record, So Close to What fails to reach the heights of her contemporaries.
With the exception of the album’s off-putting opening track – the jarringly regressive ode to the paragons of jealousy, Miss Possessive – the record’s first half is solid. It’s packed with tight, energetic dance-pop tracks, McRae’s sprightly delivery backed by trap beats and occasionally veering into a punchy house sound. 2 Hands was the album’s best single, entrancing and undeniably catchy, powered by a groove that will have you moving involuntarily. It’s unapologetic in its celebration of love and lust, breathless yearning as an empowering demand.
Revolving Door is magnetic and propulsive, with the record’s most compelling hook and an irresistible bridge. Blood On My Hands sees McRae flex a higher vocal range, accompanied by an absolute scorcher of a guest verse by incendiary rapper Flo Milli. Purple Laced Bra might be the album’s best moment – it’s contagious and bouncy, a banger that also contains McRae’s most biting lyrics (a line like “giving you head’s the only time you think I have depth” is subversive gold).
But after that, the record struggles to maintain the hype. It becomes repetitive and homogenous, stuck on a hamster wheel of recycled rhythms and shallow lyricism; it’s the sort of album where, if you aren’t listening closely, you might miss where one song ends and the next begins. There’s the odd change-up – Like I Do is a slinky mid-’00s R&B tune indebted to the likes of Rihanna and Ciara, and Nostalgia is a pretty, acoustic Gracie Abrams-style tune – but, otherwise, the second half is sonically stale and lyrically lacking.
The 21-year-old Canadian singer/dancer has been scratching at the edges of Sabrina-level stardom for years.
On songs like Sports Car, Signs, and Not In Love, McCrae leans into the worst stereotypes of young women dating, and without the cheek and charm of Sabrina Carpenter or the otherworldly coolness of Charlie XCX, she can’t pull it off. Materialism and manipulation masked as empowerment, sex-forward but not sexy, insecurity and jealousy without vulnerability. McRae is just 21 years old, obviously still figuring things out, and listeners may well relate to the messiness. But the weakest song, despite an admirable assist from her boyfriend, Australian star the Kid Laroi, is a particularly tough listen – I Know Love, which repeats the cringy line, “I know love, it’s a little like drugs”.
McRae’s rise to pop stardom was precipitated by her career in dance, most famously as the third-place finisher on season 13 of reality TV competition So You Think You Can Dance. Her immense talent as a dancer and the thrilling choreography on display in her music videos and live shows have earned her a strong following, particularly online. But the electricity of her performances has not always translated to her music.
Uptempo and fleeting, most of the songs on So Close to What are fun but forgettable, whizzing past without leaving a mark. Ten of the 15 tracks on the album come in under three minutes, which, in this case, lends the songs an air of impermanence rather than dynamism. The bar is sky-high for global pop stars right now, but there’s little doubt that Tate McRae’s best is still ahead of her.
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