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If you consider current popular music to have a set of requirements, then the career of 20-year-old Canadian Tate McRae meets most of those requirements. She has a background in children’s television, having voiced a character in the show Lalaloopsy. She also gained fame online and has successfully translated that into her real-life music career, with help from established artist Billie Eilish who co-wrote her debut single Tear Myself Apart. Her lyrics often touch on topics like bad relationships, teenage angst, and confidently declaring that she doesn’t mind being dumped because the person will come back to her. Her music style is a mix of pop-trap, big ballads, and pop-punk with guitar riffs and AutoTune vocals or a slurred delivery that gives off an accusatory tone.
Her recent song Greedy has become extremely popular, with the most plays on Spotify and being used in almost 4 million TikTok videos. One of these videos features a trend called the “tube girl hair flip transition,” which is best left unexplained to avoid adding to the idea that our culture is in trouble.
It’s difficult to ignore McRae’s words and not notice the abundance of this type of content. However, it’s evident that this formula has a strong commercial appeal. Despite the UK charts being dominated by Christmas songs, Greedy – the newest addition to her collection of gold and platinum hits in both the US and UK – managed to hold its ground in the Top 10. It stood as a small but resilient force, standing against the overwhelming wave of outdated jingle-bell tunes, bolstered by the popular trend of tube girl hair flip transitions.
In 2022, McRae released her debut album, I Used to Think I Could Fly. It did not achieve the same level of success as her two influences, Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, who dominate the pop industry. This could be attributed to McRae’s main weakness – although she is a talented and lively dancer, she lacks a unique selling point like Eilish’s gothic flair and distinct production style, or the captivating love triangle that supposedly inspired Rodrigo’s hit song, “Drivers License.” Ultimately, McRae’s success relies heavily on the quality of her songs.
However, she has discussed the challenges of establishing one’s identity while being bound to the contemporary pop method of “co-writing with numerous individuals”. Her previous album, “I Used to Think I Could Fly”, included input from over 30 writers and producers, including Charlie Puth and her brother and main collaborator, O’Connell. Therefore, her next album aims to streamline the creative process and create more coherence.
The lyrics of Think Later focus on themes of troublesome boyfriends, angry slamming doors, and conflicts within friend groups (“she said she had my back, but she had the knife,” “you’re half my age, yet you look at me like I’m some sort of escape,” “I overshare about things I never intended”). The song “Calgary” also includes a narrative reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s hometown stories. This time, OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder serves as co-executive producer and has contributed to most of the songs. The overall sound is more cohesive, with a generous use of reverb to tie together the electronic and guitar-driven tracks.
Occasionally, this results in profits. The song Greedy is incredibly memorable, led by a repetitive and catchy guitar riff. Stay Done is a well-crafted, bittersweet acoustic ballad with a corporate alternative rock sound, while the beat of Hurt My Feelings has a pleasing minimalist feel reminiscent of the Neptunes’ early 2000s style.
However, they are encompassed by an abundance of songs that, although well-crafted, contain predictable melodies or come across as forced. In its pursuit of immediate appeal, Exes employs a mechanical rhythm that soon crosses the line from upbeat to grating. Large portions of the album pass by without leaving much of an impression: these tracks may be suitable for radio play, but they also blend in with the rest of the fast-paced airwaves.
The quest for a USP doesn’t seem to have yielded a definitive answer: McRae is still fitting a lot of currently popular boxes without escaping them. There are highlights, but the overwhelming impression is of placeholder pop, filling space until something different comes along. How Tate McRae will respond when it does is anyone’s guess.
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favorite playlist
This week, Alexis tuned in to her preferred playlist.
Personal Trainer – The Feeling
Next year, the Dutch indie band will release an album featuring a nine-minute track called “The Feeling.” The song begins with a moody, slow vibe reminiscent of Lambchop, but then picks up speed and becomes more upbeat before returning to its original sound.
Source: theguardian.com
