Courtesy RCA Records
Assistant Opinion Editor Arjun Mukherjee writes how Tate MaCrae's new album is energetic, well-produced pop but lacks originality.
Stocked with arena-ready dance bops, Tate McRae’s third studio album, “So Close to What,” focuses on imitation over innovation.
While Tate McRae can claim many titles — international dance star, YouTube phenomenon and pop star — “So Close To What” allows her to add chart topper to the list. The album is exhilarating, pulsing with energy and buoyed by stellar production. Immediately exploding to the top of the Billboard 200, it also reflects a musical evolution. As an artist initially propelled by melancholic piano ballads like “chaotic” and “you broke me first,” McRae’s second album, “Think Later,” broadened to include clubhouse anthems. On “So Close To What,” McRae almost exclusively replicates the latter.
Unfortunately, McRae’s choice of singles were abysmal. “It’s ok I’m ok,” the lead single, seemed more like a song engineered for TikTok virality than something produced for artistry with its electropop-heavy synth. “2 hands,” the follow up, featured a salacious music video but lacked substance. However, the job of quelling fears that “So Close To What” was going to end up mediocre fell to the third single: “Sports car”—a racy, husky song with an refreshing spoken-word chorus that made for a fortunate harbinger for the rest of the album.
Just like “Sports car,” much of “So Close To What” turned out to be electric. “Revolving Door,” track three on the album, is powered by pulsing beats that call back past chord-fueled songs like “she’s all i wanna be.” “Dear god”track five—is another banger: pining, head-voice-heavy and glazed with drooping beats in the finale that make for spectacular ear candy.
The two guest features on “So Close To What” leave mixed results. “I know love,” McRae’s collaboration with The Kid LAROI, fails spectacularly, let down by a clichéd melody and just plain bad lyricism. However, it is redeemed a thousand times over by “bloodonmyhands,” a resentful takedown of an ex, frosted by a head-voice-heavy chorus and a wonderfully slick Flo Milli feature.
“So Close To What” feels like an introspective, sugar-rush charged energy in the wee hours of the morning. On “Like I do,” McRae is sassy: “You been tryna read me, think you wanna be me / you should go ahead and try to,” she declares coolly. On “Nostalgia,” the phenomenal album closer, McRae reverts back to the stringed ballads that flung her to fame in the first place, regretful and longing for a happier past that she’s close to, but can never grasp.
Unfortunately, McRae fails to create anything that is uniquely hers. “So Close To What” somehow channels Addison Rae, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and other artists but fails to innovate further. The only thing that’s distinctive is her voice—cursivey, somewhat nasally and drowning in vibrato—but McRae uses her vocals like an instrument, resulting in songs where the lyrics are nigh impossible to make out. While the album is sonically cohesive, the repetitive beats and sultry tones lose their luster by album’s conclusion.
Still, “So Close To What” is a dramatic improvement over McRae’s prior pop staleness. It is rare for an album to bombard with heavy-hitting chorus after chorus, and practically every song is hit-worthy. While this latest project is far from groundbreaking, it’s fun, it’s exciting and it is the moment.