Tate McRae’s third studio album, “So Close to What,” brings songs weighing on heartfelt lyrics of a breakup weaved in throughout promiscuous pop songs. Released on Feb. 21, she leaves fans with a 16-song tracklist, completing at just under 45 minutes of music. With this album, McRae has mastered the art of creating her own iconic breathy style.
Opening up her album with “Miss possessive,” a song about a jealous partner who wants every other girl to know what’s hers. She adds major layers building up to a beautiful climax in her chorus, “Look at the floor or ceiling / Or anyone else you’re feeling / Take on whoever walks in / Just keep your eyes off him.”
McRae ties in poppy beats with a repeated melody in the background of her statement lyrics. Towards the end of her song, it takes a change in tempo, slowing down to the final stretch, leaving listeners with a slow fade out.
Her second song, “2 hands” was released on Nov. 14, 2024, bringing her bass and background noise-boosted sound straight into the start of her album. As one of five songs released before her album, she gave her fans a quick glance at how her newest album would play out. Building up her fans’ anticipation to her full album.
Another pre-released track, “Sports car,” takes listeners on a wild ride of how badly she wants a quick fling with lyrics giving into, “No, you ain’t got no Mrs. / Oh, but you got a sports car / we can uh-uh in it.” She uses her breathy singing during the chorus and switches her style up during her verses, creating a perfect longing feel to her track.
One of listeners’ favorites is “Revolving door,” third on her tracklist with over 56,000,000 streams since the album’s release. The song takes a very synth and bass-reliant beat, slowly building until her chorus: “I keep coming back like a revolving door / Say I could want you less / But I just want you more.” She beautifully portrays how hard it can be to move on from a relationship. She uses pure vocals at the start of the song, which are elegantly balanced with her rhythm changes and chord resolutions. All this before resolving into how she keeps going back to someone that she’s wanted to push away. She reminisces on time spent with a situationship with the lyrics, “I still think about that night out in Boston / I’m more hurt than I would admit it.”
McRae’s use of lyrics and vocal overlapping shows how much she has progressed with her music since her debut in 2017. “bloodonmyhands” has her and Flo Milli bringing a more lyric-forward song to the crowd with a simple repeating background that shifts as soon as Milli enters. The two bounce back and forth about a new relationship, which is opposite to her few previous tracks. “I know love” is another track on her album with a feature from her partner The Kid Laroi. The two use lyrics such as, “Yeah, it’s only the beginnin’ / But it’s happening quick,” singing about how listeners know when love hits and how the two are working together in more ways than one.
“Purple lace bra” opens up with live strings playing, which is quite different for McRae, as she usually opens her songs with a fast-paced beat. Shortly after, her typical beat comes into play with straightforward lyrics surrounding how her body has caught the attention of people. She uses her lyrics to tell listeners how aspects of herself don’t get seen in her relationship, “I’m losing my mind, I’m losing my head / You only listen when I’m undressed.” As a more orchestral piece, the change in pace plays strongly with its lyrics, how intricate her feelings are towards this person and how she feels that they just want her body rather than herself.
“Signs” is a track focused on how guys need to read between the lines of what their partner is saying or how they are acting. She digs into how she wants her partner to be able to read her better as a person, to “know [her]better,” as she repeats many times in her lyrics. The song takes a musical turn with around a minute left in the song, switching to a faster rendition of her chorus while also having a brief key change. “Shouldn’t have to tell you or whatever, read my mind,” takes listeners into the everyday thought process of a woman in a relationship.
She wraps up her album with “Nostalgia,” which relies more on guitar and pure vocals than anything else. McRae takes a more vulnerable position in this song, putting herself out for her fans in a ballad about how time flies, even when listeners are scared for the future. Her verses in this piece really show how she feels trapped within herself and is unable to speak her mind. Using lyrics such as “I bite my tongue ten times a day / Half swear to God, I might just pray / And I got a lot to lose / So I might as well lose it anyway,” to express herself. She takes a very unexpected turn at the end of her album that has gotten much appreciation from her fans. With her slower, laid-back track, she pushes memories into her final album wrap-up with this song.
Like many artists, her vinyl only has 13 songs; after four tracks from her digital album were taken off, two of the vinyl tracks were bonuses. “Better Than I Was” and “Call My Bluff” both create their own take on relationship status in different lights. The two songs are only available on her vinyls but offer such an interesting addition to McRae’s album.
In “Better Than I Was,” McRae sings about seeing an ex get with someone new. She uses lyrics such as “One day you’ll find another girl / who gon’ put me in the rear view / don’t know why it hurts the way it does.”
“Call My Bluff” has a less gut-wrenching feel, surrounding how both sides blame each other for how the relationship ended and that McRae’s feelings are not the same as her last bonus track. “I don’t think I love you” repeats in the background towards the final moments of her song.
“So Close to What” brings out the original McRae vibe of her songs with sexual lyrics and wild rhythms throughout her tracks while adding in her newly learned talents in the music realm. She balances her energetic, yet intimate, style perfectly. This album is a great example of just how many ways McRae can use her skills to create amazing alternative pop music.
