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Feb 25, 2025McRae delivers on the promise of Think Later, levelling up with this set of addictive pop gems and heartfelt confessionals.
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Feb 24, 2025This is a collection both provocative and vigorous, covered in a sleek wrapper that hides the introspective side lurking beneath. So Close To What is hit after hit – it’s her most convincing argument of superstardom yet.
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Feb 21, 2025Pop music has become saturated with soft, emotional ballads (the songs of Billie Eilish and Gracie Abrams spring to mind). McRae offers a welcome change – if you want tunes packed with snappy, catchy choruses and racy lyrics that make you feel powerful and sexy, then look no further.
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Feb 21, 2025Not only does it showcase her ability to blend introspective vulnerability with infectious pop sensibilities, but it also finds McRae discovering the sound she’s most confident in, leaving everyone wondering where she will take it next.
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Feb 21, 2025The result is a rock-solid collection of bops that gives McRae space to grow in the future. She’s great at sultry and self-confident moments, but ‘So Close To What’ proves she has other shades in her colour palette.
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Apr 2, 2025Small misses are forgiven, however, because So Close to What doesn’t market itself as a confessional record in the first place. The upbeat tracks are streamlined enough to survive on their own.
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Feb 21, 2025Despite a relatively robust 15-track length, it never loses focus. And what McRae can sometimes lack in persona she makes up for in precision.
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Feb 21, 2025A sleek, fast-moving collection of darkly hued pop confections.
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Mar 10, 2025The project is full of snappy, polished pop-R&B songs that never go too far astray in quality but can be a repetitive experience when considered as a whole.
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Feb 26, 2025There’s no harm in taking inspiration from others. But here, it sounds like McRae and her writing team hopped on the left-of-center-pop bandwagon without building out something new and wholly Tate—and it’s hard to make leftovers taste as enticing as when they were first served hot and fresh.
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Feb 25, 2025While the ceiling is low and the majority of So Close To What is annoyingly undercooked, there is still a lot of promise to be found. Tate and her team clearly have an ear for sticky melodies and the lack of necessary lore is appreciated, but there still is a very pervasive sense of figuring things out here.
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Feb 21, 2025With a few exceptions, McRae’s latest album is decidedly mid.