So You Think You Can Dance participant to global pop star. Tate McRae, a 22-year-old woman, is a newly found popstar to the mainstream media. She started her music and dancing career at 13 years old as a participant in the show “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2016, while posting on a YouTube channel she has had since 2011.

  In 2017, she started to post videos of her singing, a series called “Create with Tate”, and she has continued to pursue her passion for music ever since. One of her most recent releases is an album called So Close to What. Through her 15 tracks, Tate McRae goes into a more polished production with dance-ready beats that showcase her talents and maturity. This is her third studio album, and she has followed this album release with a world tour known as the Miss Possessive Tour.       

The opening track, “Miss Possessive”, sets the tone for the album with a mix of confidence and chaos. This track is about the intense themes of jealousy, control, and possessiveness in a relationship, delivered as a warning to someone trying to interfere. I think Tate does a fantastic job luring her fans into her album with the track and using it as the opening song during her tour.  The name “Miss Possessive” is such a unique name for a track, in my opinion, and I think it does a great job at making listeners intrigued about what they are about to hear. 

Following this leading track are “2 Hands” and “Revolving Door”; they provide catchy hooks and energetic rhythms. The production, led by big names like Ryan Tedder and Black Slatin, is consistently strong, creating a sound that feels moody and electric. I love the excitement she exerts in her shows while performing the tracks on this album. In these more “energetic” songs, her dance experience shines. With her past in competitive dance, she is a clear stand-out when it comes to choreography.                                              

Tate also explores a more vulnerable side in “Greenlight” and “Nostalgia”, where her vocals shine with tremendous emotion. The track “Greenlight” goes into being emotionally stuck: wanting to move forward, open up, and take a risk in love, but being held back by pain or doubts. In her lyrics, “Band-Aids and bullet holes don’t go”, this clearly shows that recurring theme. A tiny bandage can’t fix a huge problem, just like the potential failure of trying to return to love after being hurt. I’m obsessed with her raw emotions within this. “Nostalgia” goes into regret and loss. Through her lyrics, she reflects on her personal experiences, including the pressure of living up to expectations, and the realization that time slips away without us fully appreciating it.

 Personally, I love her vulnerability in these works because it allows listeners to relate to her. It made me sit and realize how fast the things I love could slip away. She truly made me appreciate everything I have. This song makes the gap between artists and listeners smaller and makes her fans feel that Tate is just a normal person too; she has struggles just like anyone else.

However, the album sometimes struggles with originality. Many tracks echo familiar early-2000s pop influences, drawing comparisons to artists like Ariana Grande and Sam Smith. Tate McRae’s song “Think Later” has been closely compared to the song “Jada”, which is an unreleased Ariana Grande track, and the song “Unholy” by Sam Smith. While the sound is fun and clean, it may seem recycled. Some critics argue Tate’s voice gets lost in heavy production and edits, making it harder for her unique personality to break through. She produced music without a powerful singing ability in her past albums due to her inexperience in the music industry. Still, she is now performing more vocal-focused songs along with her intensely choreographed tracks to show she doesn’t only rely on back-tracks.

Despite these potential flaws, So Close to What solidifies Tate McRae’s place in mainstream pop. It’s an album full of confidence, heartbreak, and high-gloss beats that perfectly capture the restless energy of young adulthood. I strongly recommend this album to others. I think there is at least one song that someone will enjoy. She has a variety of moods throughout her tracks, and I feel that she has made a significant step in her music career. I can’t wait to see what she does next.