THINK LATER marks Tate McRae’s fun pop girl entrance

Often it's on the heels of a new viral song, upon which she’s picked apart and discussed; phrases like “star quality” are thrown around, which misses the point. The Pop Girl is here to have a moment, send out a cute song or two, and then humbly retreat to let another take her place for a bit.

The Fall/Winter Pop Girl of 2023 is Tate McRae. A charming 20-year-old Canadian who released her debut – i used to think i could fly – last year, but whose rise this year seems to suggest a reinvention. “Greedy”, released this September, is a viral self-assured anthem about your own worth after a breakup, and follow-up “exes” is a bratty, flirty declaration of keeping one’s past loves close (“Ooh, I’m sorry, sorry that ya love me!” is in contention for best line delivery of the year). Both are fun songs, but their videos gained valid attention for McRae’s commitment and ambition to become a pop star – channelling the likes of Britney and Janet. She dances her ass off and shows her worth as a performer as well as a singer, something contemporaries like Tinashe and Victoria Monét have also been excelling at.

McRae hustled – performing with charisma on Saturday Night Live and at a gay club in London – all in support of her sophomore album, THINK LATER. The two pre-release singles suggested a cohesive, upbeat pop record, which was semi-delivered. The album is filled with half-empty tracks that feel rushed rather than planned, and relies largely on trap beats that get old quickly. Meaning behind songs like “plastic palm trees” can be gleaned from the title; “stay done” is a head vs. heart reckoning to leave someone that could have been written by anyone, and “guilty conscience”, in a Drake-like move, says that sending pics to other girls is a point of contention in a relationship, which makes you remember, Oh, yes, this person was just a teenager.

McRae’s strengths don’t lie in writing, but every once in a while she throws out a line that shows she’s got promise. “Not sure if my mom would call this love,” she says while addressing a toxic relationship on “messier”, and “want that too” is an interesting way to dissect the relationship, saying that the guy only comes out of hiding once McRae has moved on and is satisfied. She discusses reinvention on the opener, “cut my hair”, and on “run for the hills”, she warns others about the dangers of dating her. “All that I want is attention from you / Break into my life and break all my rules,” she says, a need so raw and intense that parallels later on the tracklist, when she admits, “I’ll be wantin’ you back ‘till the cops start calling.” But, against this writing, she sings clunkers like “Changed my mind up like it’s origami”, which, in her defence, makes “exes” no less of an insanely catchy song.

McRae has the references, energy, and ambition to pull out some major hits – she’s infectious on stage, and her videos and performances are all planned and conceptualized. But THINK LATER is a little too hollow, a little too cohesive, to make any big statements right now. Maybe she could have thought now, just a little bit.