As a longtime fan of Canadian singer and songwriter Tate McRae, I have been anticipating her new album’s release for months, and I was not disappointed. “So Close To What” is a fast paced and exciting pop and R&B album mixing thrilling upbeat songs with a few powerfully written ballads. I loved the variation of songs, and strongly believe the album has no songs to skip.
“So Close To What” is McRae’s third studio album, and was released on Feb. 21. The album is a shift from her previous ones as it has fewer slow songs then her others, highlighting her ability to create exhilarating dance songs.
Additionally, the lyricism of the album is very good, particularly because McRae collaborated with many experienced songwriters. While she primarily does the songwriting herself, McRae worked with big names in the music industry like Ryan Tedder, Amy Allen and Julia Michaels to write this album.
Preceding the release of “So Close To What,” McRae released three singles from the album, beginning with “It’s ok I’m ok” on Sept. 12. The song was a huge hit and performed incredibly, debuting at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “2 hands,” my favorite single because of its fast and dynamic rhythm, was next to be released on Nov. 14, 2024. The last single released was “Sports car,” which came out just a month before the release of the album.
All of the singles were released along with dynamic music videos, which expressed the energy of the songs very well. When the album came out, another music video for the song “Revolving door” was released. The video showcased McRae’s background in dance as well as her talent in singing. Like her past albums, each song without a music video was released with an individualized lyric video relating to the theme of the song.
The album focuses mainly on the theme of love, and McRae’s current relationship with The Kid LAROI. A strong aspect of the album is the collaborations with other artists, including The Kid LAROI. “So Close To What” also includes a collaboration with Flo Milli. These songs are some of my personal favorites from the album because the collaborators’ voices compliment McRae’s very well.
A few songs I particularly liked from the album are the first track from the album, “Miss possessive,” “Signs” and “I know love.”
“Miss Possessive” has a very strong beat and abrupt differences in tempo and style, from the verse to the chorus to the bridge, making the song sound very interesting. “Signs” has a lot of focus on vocals and energy making it enticing to listen to. My personal favorite song from the album is “I know love”. The collaboration with The Kid LAROI is very well done, and it is an all around well written and good song.
Following the release of “So Close To What,” McRae is going on a worldwide tour, the “Miss Possessive 2025 World Tour.” She will be coming to Baltimore on Aug. 31.
The release of the album made me so much more excited to attend McRae’s concert. I was pleasantly surprised with the songs on this album, and I think this is her best album yet. I highly recommend listening to it if a fan of McRae’s music.
