Ever since her song “Greedy” blew up on TikTok and Instagram Reels in the fall of 2023 and became inescapable on those platforms, Tate McRae has been in conversations about whether or not she’s the next big thing, and if she’s the saving grace of pop music. With the release of her latest studio album, So Close to What, does this transition her into a main pop girl?
My verdict? Eh, sorta.
The lead single, “It’s ok, I’m ok,” McRae is warning her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend that he’s not as perfect as he seems and the confidence that comes with moving on from the relationship.
The syntax of this song is somewhat bizarre. The new girlfriend is gushing about him, and McRae questions what version of the boyfriend she’s on, implores her to “take him, he’s [hers].” Does the new girlfriend want McRae to take him back, or is McRae just reminding for reminding’s sake? She repeats the song’s title in the chorus, pointing at herself in the mirror as if they’re her daily affirmations. Pop music having nonsensical lyrics is nothing new. Swedish producer Max Martin built his career by writing nonsensical lyrics for the biggest hitmakers, such as the Backstreet Boys and Ariana Grande. The outro of this song saves it for me; her voice is echoey and blends into the background well
I think the lyrics “I know you’re intelligent, no rocket scientist” in the track “Signs” are a bit clunky. The song’s premise is about her complaints about her love interest not being intuitive with her emotions, and It could have been phrased more smoothly. It sounds like a rough draft of lyrics that wasn’t switched out when constructing the final draft.
My biggest problem with it is her annunciation, the way she slurs some of the lyrics, turning them into one singular amalgamation, leading the flow to be muddled and less impactful than individual words.
There’s silver linings to this album, as its instrumentations are truly something special; the sound is nostalgic yet fresh at the same time. The opening track, “Miss possessive” could have easily been a B-side to the 2007 album Shock Value by Timbaland. For most of the album’s runtime, McRae channeled her inner Nelly Furtado or Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls rather than Britney Spears, who she’s often compared to. She’s teetering the edge of Y2K pop diva, but not quite all the way there yet.
Like any Y2K pop princess, McRae employs a rap feature on this album. “Bloodonmyhands,” featuring rapper Flo Mili, was a standout track for me. The track is about how better off McRae is doing without her ex-boyfriend and how she’s moved onto a new relationship. In Flo Mili’s verse, she further reiterates that McRae’s ex-boyfriend is missing out. The track is bright and fun—it sounds like you’re covered in glitter and dancing in a club, even though I didn’t know what she was saying the first time and had to look up the lyrics.
So Close to What isn’t trying to reinvent the broader scale of pop music, and I respect her for that; I take it as an album to reinvent her musical journey. To me, the album is about personal growth and maturing into herself, the self-actualization of becoming a woman and the territory that comes with it. McRae is close to fully realizing her potential as not just an artist, but as a woman finding her voice in today’s constantly evolving world.
However she decides to explore her voice and further her transition into becoming a main pop figure, I’ll be interested.
