“Oh my guy / You don’t wanna waste my time / Let’s go ride,” sings Canadian pop artist Tate McRae in her third single “Sports car” from her highly anticipated album “So Close To What.” Released on Feb. 21, the album became the 21-year-old artist’s biggest debut to date and marked a complete departure from her previous style, making her the most-streamed artist in the United States this week.
I don’t want to waste your time either, so let’s go ride before I start ranting.
I’ve connected with McRae since her first EP, “all the things I never said,” which she released in 2020. I can’t even describe my reaction after listening to it — I never imagined that five songs and 15 minutes could convey so much. Every track captured her experience as a teenager struggling with friendships and love. Although its main single, “tear myself apart,” was written by Billie Eilish and Finneas, I can’t picture anyone but McRae singing it. It’s the best EP I’ve ever heard. This is the Tate that I connected with.
McRae’s artistic journey began when she started uploading self-written songs to YouTube in 2017. Her first upload, “One Day,” went viral and led her to sign with RCA Records two years later.
“I think about a hundred thoughts and you are ninety-nine / I’ve understood that you’ll never be mine / and that’s fine, I’m just breaking inside,” she expressed in a raw voice. Songs like “dear ex best friend” and “dear parents …” deeply reflected her personal experiences, feelings and fears. This is why I became an avid fan of her music.
Before “So Close To What,” McRae’s breakout came with “Think Later,” her sophomore album, which featured hits like “greedy” and “exes.” Though marketed as sexier and more empowering than her earlier works, the album ultimately explored her ongoing struggle with toxic relationships. The album still reflected the authenticity of McRae’s YouTube days when she didn’t need any songwriters or daring costumes. She was still Tate.
Last September, after the release of “It’s ok I’m ok,” the first single on “So Close to What,” it became clear that this new era in her career was leaning towards the style of the single “exes” in “Think Later.” While the track succeeded in her goal of creating danceable songs, the music video and artwork prioritized a hypersexualized image over her vocal and performance talents.
“2 hands” followed as the second single, marking the biggest shift in McRae’s career. For the first time, she explicitly sang about intimacy: “I want ‘em all to see / You look good on top of me” “We don’t gotta live out of hotels / We could do it in my room all day.”
In the music video, McRae pours a carton of milk over her face just before appearing atop a McLaren with sports car drivers touching her entire body. Is this a porno intended to feed some kind of male fantasy?
While catchy and innovative compared to her earlier works, the song doesn’t reflect the singer who once poured her emotions into powerful melodies with relatable lyrics. This isn’t Tate.
“McRae’s artistic journey began when she started uploading self-written songs to YouTube in 2017. Her first upload, “One Day,” went viral and led her to sign with RCA Records two years later.“
If Olivia Rodrigo is the angsty teenager, Chappell Roan is the drag rebel, and Sabrina Carpenter is the mischievous and sarcastic one, then McRae supposedly needed to fill the missing role in today’s music scene to stand out: the sexual icon performer, or essentially, the Britney Spears of the 2020s.
Although she called the comparisons to Spears flattering and scary, at the 2024 VMA’s award ceremony she was dressed exactly like Spears at the 2001 VMAs. She was marketed as Britney 2.0.
When “Sports car” dropped as the third single, I knew we’d lost Tate forever. She admitted it on social media: ‘I didn’t write this [song], Tatiana did’ — Tatiana is the name she gave to her “alter ego.”
Using her sexual alter ego to justify her transformation into a performer who isn’t allowed to sing, but rather murmurs mediocre lyrics over synthetic beats, doesn’t feel convincing.
Unsurprisingly, “Sports car” has become the album’s most popular track. I love her, but I’d be disappointed if her first Grammy nomination goes for this song. “I think you know what this is,” she sang — and yes, we certainly do.
When an artist claims to be discovering their sound, it usually means they’re being pushed by their label’s marketing demands, not reinventing themselves. Unfortunately, in the male-dominated music industry, hypersexualizing female artists is a common strategy.
Having followed Tate since the very beginning, I find it hard to believe creating a whole album on the concept of getting laid every day was where she found the best of her artistry.
“Did my purple lace bra catch your attention? / The look in your eye made me question,” McRae sang in the album track “Purple lace bra.” Addressing backlash for appearing seminude in the music video for “It’s ok I’m ok,” McRae said in a conversation with Apple Music that “Purple lace bra” felt like a conversation between her and the media: “You’re seeing these videos of me dancing and you’re not listening to me as a songwriter, which is the most important part for me — that’s my soul.”
The issue isn’t her outfits or moves — those shouldn’t be criticized in the first place — it’s McRae’s shift in music to fit commercial demands. What’s missing in this album is her soulful songwriting and authentic voice.
However, sonically, this album is arguably her most cohesive, addictive and enjoyable yet.
Despite the album’s overall superficiality, a few tracks preserve her signature voice and style. “Revolving Door” — the fourth single and, in my opinion, the album’s best song— is a great example of her remaining true to her genuine abilities. The song is a more mature version of “run for the hills” from “Think Later” and revisits themes of attachment and insecurity. In the track, she candidly admits, “I’m more hurt than I would admit / I’m supposed to be an adult, but fuck it, I need a minute.”
Tate could have evolved beyond her previous work — if that’s what she really wanted — without being reduced to a sexual icon. She is a great lyricist, vocalist and performer, but I can barely find her in “So Close to What.”
Tomy Helman PO ’28 is a music columnist from Florida, Argentina. He’s interested in culture and politics and currently speaks Spanish, English, French, Indonesian and Italian.
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