As of April 10, 2024, Tate McRae’s songs are still charting. On the Billboard Hot 100 chart, for the week of April 13, 2024, her song “exes” is No. 67, while “greedy” is No. 13. For the Music Daily Trending Tracks chart, “exes” is No. 91, and “greedy” is No. 31.
Three years ago, nobody would believe that then-17-year-old Tate McRae, the singer behind mega-viral TikTok track “you broke me first,” would become pop music’s next saving grace. But THINK LATER, McRae’s shiny new sophomore record, via RCA Records, clears up any uncertainty. From employing catchy hooks and stellar visuals with Britney-fied choreography, McRae makes a brave attempt at resurrecting “pop star” realness.
The project’s cover-confident lead single, “greedy,” rightfully left the TikTok screen and moved into beloved late-night television programs like Saturday Night Live and Jimmy Kimmel Live! The single topped the Spotify Global chart and went No. 3 on the Billboard Global 200. At the time of this publication, “greedy” surpassed the 450 million-stream milestone on Spotify.
With support releases from the bouncy and Christina Aguilera-inspired “exes” and sad girl track “grave,” Stan Twitter (known as “X” now) was left foaming at the mouth over McRae’s back-bending dance solo during her Billboard Music Awards performance. They had no choice but to accept a new mother and her pop star card.
Despite her high-energy promotional rollout, the Canadian singer keeps her blasé attitude in check with a pocketful of self-aware pop bangers. Well, 14 tracks to be exact. “Live now, think later / I do it so well,” McRae sings on the M.I.A-sampled title track. “Fall hard, heartbreaker / i want him, oh, well.”
THINK LATER sticks like grits partly because it doesn’t overtly rely on ooze-filled, baby-voiced dance hits; McRae pens hard reality, too. “My last album wasn’t like that at all … I was getting songs from 10 different people and being like, ‘OK, here’s an album,'” she told Billboard. “And this time it was written by the same core group of people. That’s what made the process so fun for me, because it actually felt like a project that I was working on.”
Tracks like “guilty conscience” and “hurt my feelings” reminisce on the giddy feelings of temptation while “stay done” and “calgary” face a stone cold truth. However, searching for the perfect balance cannot be easier when “cut my hair” and “hurt my feelings” exist.
In other news, McRae recently announced the 2024 global THINK LATER TOUR. The Live Nation-produced tour will span 53 dates throughout Europe, UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand. It includes her first headline show at Madison Square Garden. See more ticket information here.
2023 was the year of main pop girls. And, with THINK LATER, 2024 will be the year of Tate McRae. Stream her new album below!
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