We’ve seen her music grow from playful, to emotionally hard-hitting, to established club-bangers. Canadian singer-songwriter Tate McRae’s third studio album So Close To What (2025) establishes a whole new sense of maturity in the midst of steamy, melodic heartbreak. Its breathy tones, dirty lyrics, and punchy pop sounds have hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 charts — the first of her albums to achieve it. Its musicality conveys a message to the music industry about her experience with publicity as a 21-year-old woman, and it is a love letter to her feelings about a never-ending finish line ahead of her — where satisfaction with her work falls just out of her reach.
McRae is a natural performer and talented dancer who expresses her feelings on the dance floor as well as through her music. In anticipation of her second world tour, titled “Miss Possessive Tour,” fans can expect her introspective song “Revolving door” to be on the top of the set list. In the song, she sings “But I keep comin’ back like a revolvin’ door / Say I couldn’t want you less, but I just want you more.” The beat is propulsive as she takes us through the motions of feeling out of control in a relationship she struggles with quitting. It’s quite the metaphor.
The terrifying feat of falling in love again with a different person after heartbreak comes through in “Greenlight.” McRae uses driving as a metaphor for moving forward and trying to leave her past behind. A full section of royal-sounding string instrumentals introduce her soft vocals that sing a seductive conversation between her and the media in “Purple lace bra” expressing how news outlets only seem to listen to her for her sex appeal, and not what she actually has to say. Her tone becomes deep and throaty when asking the media, “Did my purple lace bra get your attention?” followed by “Would you hear me more if I whispered in your ear?”
Each track’s story is transient behind an ongoing sexy sweet melody, as each song takes place in a different room, and a different bed. McRae navigates her love life that has been stitched up and broken again.
“Nostalgia” is an interesting twist that closes out the album, and brings out an introverted side to a super vulnerable and private atmosphere. It’s McRae protecting herself and being “Three steps ahead of everythin’” to ensure she doesn’t risk heartbreak again. Not only that, but it’s a love letter to following passion and doing what’s authentic to her.
As a true Tate McRae fan, there aren’t many songs on the album I skip past. It captures the element of performance well, leaving you breathless on the dance floor (or other places). Her use of earworm sounds is a clever method that seems out of context at first, but adds texture and grit to songs like “Miss possessive.” The song’s assertive hand-clapping layered with synth sets the tone for the album, especially when Miss Sydney Sweeney opens with the bratty line “No, seriously, get your hands off my man.”
One of my favourite songs is the catchy “I know love” featuring McRae’s boyfriend, The Kid LAROI. Their voices blend naturally together and the high-pitched, repetitive chorus puts you in a lovestruck kind of mood. However, LAROI’s verse in “I know love” had little depth to it and felt slightly lazy. I would have liked the themes and lyrics themselves to be more original, as I might compare the dramatic tunes to others belonging to Sabrina Carpenter or Charli XCX.
“Siren sounds” debuted as a surprise bonus track and is one of the best songs on the album. Goosebumps hit me hard when McRae describes the image of a burning house representing a messy relationship.
The album serves fast-paced rhythms, bouncy beats, and snappy comebacks within authentic lyrics that speak to the younger generation. Regardless of what was smashing or not, the album provides a front row seat to refreshing, badass female energy. It comes out like a lioness, and I’m absolutely here for it.
With a single flip of her hair, So Close to What includes 15, dance-centric tracks that showcase an evolution of McRae’s music style and personal growth. Compared to her previous emotionally-driven, trap-pop album THINK LATER (2023), it’s more fervent and fiery — yet sophisticated. In the midst of her themes of toxic love, self-doubt, and vulnerability, she tells us to embrace our inner power with confidence and stay true to ourselves.
Veronica is a Staff Writer at The Cascade. She loves to travel and explore new places, no matter how big or small. She is in her second year at UFV, pursuing the study of Creative
Writing.