Tate McRae’s popularity has been on a steady rise ever since she began posting covers on YouTube at only 13 years old. With the highly anticipated release of her third studio album So Close To What on February 21, 2025, she may finally become a main pop girl.
Tate’s ever-growing presence as a musical figure in the pop landscape has helped her prove that she is more than a singles artist. To accompany the album, she released a music video for “Revolving door,” the official fourth single of the album. The video features chaotic movements and ends with catharsis as Tate McRae succumbs to her intense emotions, falling to the ground and experiencing a mental breakdown. She digitally reissued the album to include “Siren sounds (bonus)” three days after the project’s release. Along with this surprise drop, Tate unexpectedly changed the album’s cover. Then, she changed it back to the original after only a day. On March 1, Tate made her second appearance on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest to perform “Sports car” and “Dear god.” The former’s choreography consisted of a hip hop routine with background dancers in suits with lights. The dancing and inclusion of unique lighting was very entrancing and visually pleasing. McRae’s ingenious promotional tactics earned her 177,000 equivalent album units sales and her first ever Billboard Hot 200 #1 debut.
“Miss possessive,” the fiery opening track, begins with a voice memo from Euphoria star and Emmy-nominated actress Sydney Sweeney. In this song, Tate explores feelings of jealousy and control by viciously warning a girl to “Look at the floor or ceilin’ / Just keep your eyes off him.” Her impressive songwriting abilities are furthermore utilized to portray vivid imagery are most notably exemplified by the tracks “Dear god” and “Greenlight.” A standout track, “Purple lace bra,” opens with a entracing orchestral string section and serves as a response to the media objectifying her, only paying attention to her art when it is more seductive. The specific undergarment she refers to here directly calls back to one of the outfits she wore in the music video for the album’s lead single, “It’s ok I’m ok.” She directly poses the question to the listener: “Did my purple lace bra catch your attention?” to make them wonder if they are really understanding the message she is trying to convey. Immediately following this song on the tracklist is “Sports car,” a provocative dance-pop track with an alluring, whispery chorus, further emphasizing the narrative of her mistreatment by the industry. The aforementioned achievements, impeccable lyricism and undeniable choreography has allowed for her exponentiated growth that will surely progress over the next few years.
Although So Close To What faced prosecution before its official release by leakers, Tate overcame this setback and returned to the studio, writing “bloodonmyhands (feat. Flo Milli)” and “Like I do.” In support of the album, Tate will kick off her first-ever arena tour, the Miss Possessive Tour, on March 18, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico.
