Tate McRae has been the focus of pop music ever since the release of her latest album, So Close To What. She first teased the release of her new album with her unexpected premiere of her single “It’s ok I’m ok” back in late 2024 during her Think Later tour at Madison Square Garden.
In a recent interview, she expressed how she is always writing songs, writing her new album while on her Think Later tour. Fans have been saying her new album is very similar to that of Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, as well as the style that she portrayed for this album. Following the release of her single “It’s ok I’m ok,” McRae then released her next single, “2 hands,” as well as its music video. In this video, she introduced a new style, incorporating a race car vibe. She first teased the title of her album in both the “It’s ok I’m ok” and “2 hands” music videos, where the license plates on the cars featured in the videos read “SC2W.” Following both their releases, she announced her new album to release February 21st, 2025, along with its tour, THE MISS POSSESSIVE TOUR. The album contains 16 tracks, previously 15 before she added a bonus track fans were hoping to be released. Here is my opinion on all 16 tracks of Tate McRae’s So Close To What album.
Track 1 – Miss possessive:
The opening track begins with actress and producer Sydney Sweeney saying, “No seriously, get your hands off my man,” which is an addition to the song fans went crazy over. The title inspired the name of the album’s corresponding tour, THE MISS POSSESSIVE TOUR. The song has a very danceable beat, something McRae loves to incorporate into her songs. The lyrics are very catchy and not only does McRae have great vocals in it, but the background singers add to the vibe of the song. The song incorporates some feminine themes, as it centers on her being jealous of anyone who likes her man. In general, the song is very catchy and is something that I think McRae will do amazing at performing in her upcoming tour.
Track 2 – Revolving door:
“Revolving door” is another song that McRae released a music video for. In this song, she repeats the idea of “coming back like a revolving door,” to emphasize a relationship or person she keeps coming back to. The lines “Change my mind so much I can’t find it / I work so much, can’t be reminded / Life feels worse, but good with you in it / Supposed to be on stage, but f*** it, I need a minute” show how this situation is starting to interfere with her personal life, including her profession. When this lyric was played during the music video, McRae was seen breaking down and crying for exactly a minute before pulling herself together and saying, “Again?” after previously dancing with other girls. This point in the video shows the idea of how she is continuing to come back, like a revolving door, even though it is hurting her. The song gives an emotional insight on a personal experience McRae went through; however, she still delivers a catchy and singable song many can relate to.
Track 3 – bloodonmyhands (feat. Flo Milli):
Before the release of her album, on an Instagram live video, McRae admitted this track was her favorite song on the album. The song being sung with singer Flo Milli is something McRae hasn’t done on any of her previous albums. The song is about how a guy is completely obsessed with a girl, then one day starts treating her poorly. Tate McRae and Flo Milli end up working together to portray the message that she moved on and found another guy, and how he’s a fool for thinking she wouldn’t leave him. It can also portray the message that she’s too good for him and how she can find any guy she wants. I think that the voices of McRae and Milli go very well together, and I know fans are hoping McRae will bring Milli out as a special guest for one of her shows.
Track 4 – Dear god:
Tate McRae, in her song “Dear god,” sings about a boy that she can’t get out of her head, so she turns to God for help. By repeating the lyrics: “Dear God / Take his kiss right out of my brain / Take the pleasure out of my pain / Take the way he used to say ‘I love you,’” she asks God to get everything good that has to do with him out of her mind. She also repeats the lyric, “Hands on my chest and my knees on the carpet / Hoping you’ll stop this,” to show her praying God will listen to her and take the thought of him out of her mind. This song has been something fans relate to, as it grew to be one of the most popular on the album, with over 36,000,000 streams since it was released.
Track 5 – Purple lace bra:
The song “Purple lace bra” shows a very emotional side of McRae, with many different meanings in the song. Many people misinterpret the song and can think it’s just about another relationship that ended poorly, but the song has a deeper meaning. McRae is trying to be heard within this song, but feels that in order to do so she needs to objectify herself. The media really misinterprets the kind of person she is and states all their opinions about her without getting to know who she is or the meaning behind the things she does. McRae felt like the media wasn’t listening to her and how people don’t understand how much meaning her music, dancing, and art as a whole truly has.
Track 6 – Sports car:
“Sports car” was the third single on So Close To What and was released alongside a music video. The song picks up on the sporty vibe that the music video “2 hands” portrayed. The song is about Tate staying away from a serious relationship, only using the guy because he has a sports car. This song was a big step for fans to get an idea of what the new album is going to be about. She recently performed this song on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest.
Track 7 – Signs:
The song “Signs” is about how Tate is urging her significant other to read her better and take all the signs she’s giving him. The lines: “Say ‘I need space,’ don’t look at the door / ‘I hate you’ means ‘I need you more’ / If I say, ‘Go have fun, babe,’ that’s just short for / ‘You should know me better,’ see the signs / Shouldn’t have to tell you or whatever, read my mind” show how McRae is trying to get him to understand the true meaning of what she’s saying. In a recent podcast, Tate said, “That one is fun, I just think it’s so funny being like, ‘Can’t you just read my mind?’” (via Genius). This song is one of my favorites on the album for the beat and lyrics and is a song I urge people to listen to.
Track 8 – I know love (feat. The Kid Laroi):
The second the track list was released, fans went absolutely crazy over the fact The Kid Laroi was featured on the album. Laroi and McRae were first rumored to be dating in early 2024, when they were spotted having dinner together in Los Angeles. They became Instagram official in McRae’s 21st birthday post and she brought him out as a special guest a month later at her Madison Square Garden show. Fans were hoping they would make a song together, which is why the excitement for this song was high. McRae and Laroi delivered with a catchy song that is all about them experiencing love together and can also be a song many people can relate to.
Track 9 – Like I do:
Similar to “Signs,” “Like I do” is also one of my favorite songs on the album. This is because of the beat and chorus that make it a song you always want to listen to. In my opinion, this song is very similar to her song “we’re not alike” from her Think Later album. They both are about someone trying to be like her and ultimately dive into the theme of betrayal. “Like I do” is about someone trying to get to know her just to try and be like her. It also talks about their personality and how they are two-faced, so they will never be alike.
Track 10 – It’s ok I’m ok:
Track 10 is the first single of the So Close To What album. The song was debuted at her Madison Square Garden concert, where before singing her final song “Greedy,” a video was played on the screen of her backstage getting ready to perform until “It’s ok I’m ok” started playing and she said, “Wait, that’s not ‘Greedy.’” She later released her music video that blew up and fans fell in love with the choreography of. The song has 235,940,064 and counting streams on Spotify, the most on the album. The song is a super catchy song, where McRae is talking about another girl getting into a relationship with someone she was previously with and how she’s going to get her heart broken as well. She repeats, “It’s okay, you can have him anyway,” to show that she doesn’t want him back and how eventually she’s going to go through the same thing.
Track 11 – No I’m not in love:
“No I’m not in love” is about how Tate is trying to convince someone she isn’t in love with them. Things that she does may seem like she is, but despite those mixed signals they’re just friends. Many fans connected it to a friendship that is scared to be anything more, so they deny the fact they are falling in love.
Track 12 – Means I care:
This song is another one of my favorites on the album because of the backing vocals and the beat of the song. It’s super catchy and really fun to listen to. The song explores the way that Tate shows affection in relationships, saying that even if she does something wrong it means that she cares. It can seem like she’s trying to push people away, but ultimately everyone shows affection differently and she’s expressing how she shows hers. Many people also get scared of commitment when they realize they’re getting close to someone, which is what Tate shows in the lyrics:
“If I cut you off, it just means I care /
Downright shut you out, must mean that it’s goin’ somewhere /
It’s not what I want, it’s just all I know /
If overnight I up and end it, run away without a mention, go ghost /
I like you the most.”
These lyrics show how cutting someone off as a way of showing she cares is all she knows how to do in order to show affection. She doesn’t mean it in a way to hurt them, but if she ends up leaving, it’s because she likes them too much to get hurt by them.
Track 13 – Greenlight:
At her album release party, before playing her song “Greenlight,” Tate admitted to saying her album was written based on the idea that you’re in the car, the light is green, but you feel stuck and can’t move. This song shows how the light is green so she’s trying to go forward and move on, but for some reason she’s stuck and the car won’t move. The lyrics: “I’m still waitin’ at the green light / I’d tell you what I feel like, but I can’t go / I’m still tryna make a beeline / Stuck up in a rewrite of the same song / Band-Aids and bullet holes don’t go,” show how she’s still at the green light, trying to tell someone how she feels but she can’t go through the light. Being “stuck up in a rewrite of the same song” shows how she keeps experiencing the same feelings of being stuck and unable to move on. The song has been one that I’ve seen grow very popular over social media due to how many people have been able to relate to it.
Track 14 – 2 hands:
“2 hands” is the second song Tate McRae released for her new album. Along with the song came a music video that introduced the ultimate theme and style for this song. The music video incorporating a lot about cars gave fans an early insight on what her album is about. Tate admitted to this song being very different from any other because it was the first “loveish” song she had written. This song is another that grew very popular, earning 114,466,011 and counting streams on Spotify.
Track 15 – Siren sounds (bonus):
“Siren sounds” has been an unreleased song of Tate’s for a while now, which initially was meant to be on her previous album, Think Later, but didn’t make the final cut. The initial release of So Close To What didn’t have “Siren sounds” on it, but about an hour later Tate added this song as a surprise to the fans who have been begging for her to release it.
Track 16 – Nostalgia:
“Nostalgia” is a very sad song that Tate added to her album. It’s very similar to her song “calgary” from her Think Later album, where she talks about her family and her hometown. However, in “Nostalgia,” McRae talks about each of her family members, and how important it is to not take things for granted because you can’t live with regrets. McRae talked about this song at her album listening party, where she said she would always live in this constant fear of the future or the past and never just live in the present. She didn’t realize how fast time goes, and it’s funny that the feeling of nostalgia showed up once she realized how much she misses.
So Close To What by Tate McRae is an incredible album with 16 amazing songs on it. In my opinion, there is no song on this album that I would ever not listen to or skip if it started playing. Each song has a deeper meaning to it that a lot of her fans tend to relate to. Tate McRae is most definitely on the rise of becoming the next big pop star.