So Close to What
2025 album by Tate McRae
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So Close to What is the third studio album by the Canadian singer Tate McRae, released on February 21, 2025, through RCA Records. She co-wrote it with several collaborators, including the producers Ryan Tedder, Blake Slatkin, Lostboy, Emile Haynie, Ilya, and Rob Bisel. Musically, So Close to What is a pop, dance-pop, power pop, and R&B record.
| So Close to What | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard cover | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 21, 2025 | |||
| Recorded | January 2024 – January 2025 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 42:30 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Producer |
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| Tate McRae chronology | ||||
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| Singles from So Close to What | ||||
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The album was preceded by the singles "It's OK I'm OK", "2 Hands", and "Sports Car", while "Revolving Door" was released alongside it. A deluxe edition titled So Close to What??? was released on November 21, 2025, featuring the US Billboard Hot 100 top-five single "Tit for Tat".
Upon its release, So Close to What was met with generally positive reviews. It topped the record charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, Flanders, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and the United States. It marked her first album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200. To promote the album, McRae embarked on the Miss Possessive Tour, the first arena tour of her career.
Background and release
After releasing her second studio album, Think Later (2023), McRae embarked on its supporting concert tour.[1][2] The album produced "Greedy" (2023), which was one of her highest-charting singles.[3] Shortly following the release, McRae was reported to have returned to the recording studio on January 23, 2024.[4] In March 2024, McRae confirmed that she had returned to the studio and was "writing and seeing what first comes to mind right now, especially since it's so quickly after my album just dropped".[5] As the first leg of her 2024 Think Later World Tour came to a close in August 2024, the singer further confirmed that she had been working on her upcoming album alongside touring.[6]
On November 14, 2024, McRae announced the release of her third studio album through social media.[7] According to a press release, So Close to What is set to capture "the journey of growing up when the road ahead feels infinite".[8] So Close to What offers an "introspective exploration of self-discovery, love, and searching for balance" in uncertain times.[9] On January 16, a version of the album intended for its physical release leaked online, which spurred McRae to write two extra songs for the album.[10] The final track listing was eventually revealed through her Instagram account on February 12, 2025.[11] The album was released on February 21, 2025.[12][13] A deluxe edition of the album was released on November 21, 2025.[14][15]
Composition
Artwork and title
In the January 2026 cover story of Rolling Stone, McRae explained her decision to title the album So Close to What, stating that it "reflected how she felt amid her burgeoning fame." She further explained the deluxe's title expanded upon those feelings, revealing: "The intensity feels ramped up. It was crisis mode for a little bit — more painful than the album. And I haven't gotten any further in my answer to my question 'So close to what?' I'm feeling it more intensely now. Nothing has been solved."[22]
The artwork for So Close to What??? was photographed in October 2025. Ludovic de Saint Sernin and Ignacio Muñoz acted as creative directors for the shoot. Such looks included a beach-styled sarong and a beaded minidress.[22]
Promotion
In support of the album, the singer embarked on the Miss Possessive Tour, which spanned 83 dates.[23][24][25][26] During the Think Later World Tour, McRae previously played three unreleased songs off the album at a pop-up event in Sydney.[27]
Singles
"It's OK I'm OK" was released as the album's lead single on September 12, 2024.[28] The song debuted at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking McRae's highest debuting single at the time.[29] The song received positive reviews and was released alongside a music video directed by Hannah Lux Davis.[30] Various remixes of the song were released, alongside a live performance version from her performance at Madison Square Garden.[31] The song went on to be the first inaugural number one on the Billboard US Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart.[32]
"2 Hands" was released as the album's second single on November 14, 2024, alongside a motorsport-themed music video.[33] The song debuted and peaked at number 41 on the Hot 100 and number 22 on the Canadian Hot 100.[34] The third single, "Sports Car", was released on January 24, 2025.[35] The song received positive reviews and debuted at number 21 on the Hot 100.[36] "Revolving Door" was released as the fourth single alongside the album's release on February 21, 2025.[37] A music video for the song premiered on the same date.[38][39] "Nobody's Girl" impacted Italian radio on November 28, 2025, through Sony Music Italy, as a single from the deluxe edition.[40]
Critical reception
So Close to What garnered a generally positive reception. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from mainstream publications, the album received a weighted mean score of 74 based on twelve reviews, indicating "generally favorable".[42] The sound of So Close to What was compared favourably to that of 2000s pop artists Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls.[44][18][46] In a four-star review, Shannon Garner of Clash praised McRae's "ability to blend introspective vulnerability with infectious pop sensibilities".[44] In a three-star review, Will Hodgkinson of The Times described the album as "serviceable but unremarkable pop".[47] In a negative review, Clare Martin of Paste described the album as lacking in energy, unmemorable, and "with a few exceptions... decidedly mid".[45]
Year-end lists
| Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rolling Stone | The 100 Best Albums of 2025 | 58 | [49] |
| Variety | Thania Garcia's Top 10 Best Albums of 2025 | 8 | [50] |
| Steven J. Horowitz's Top 10 Best Albums of 2025 | 10 |
Commercial performance
In Canada, So Close to What debuted atop the Billboard Canadian Albums chart with 20,000 album-equivalent units.[51] The album also debuted atop the Billboard 200 in the United States, with first-week sales of 177,000 album-equivalent units (consisting of 137.30 million on-demand streams and 71,000 pure album sales). With this feat, So Close to What marks McRae's highest sales and streaming week across all her studio projects as well as her first number one album on both the Billboard Canadian Albums chart and Billboard 200.[52] On October 6, 2025, So Close to What received a Platinum certification in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for accumulating sales of 1,000,000 album-equivalent units in the country.[53]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Miss Possessive" |
| 2:19 | |
| 2. | "2 Hands" |
|
| 3:02 |
| 3. | "Revolving Door" |
|
| 3:00 |
| 4. | "Bloodonmyhands" (featuring Flo Milli) |
| Boutin | 2:42 |
| 5. | "Dear God" |
|
| 2:51 |
| 6. | "Purple Lace Bra" |
| Haynie | 3:11 |
| 7. | "Sports Car" |
|
| 2:45 |
| 8. | "Signs" |
| Lostboy | 2:53 |
| 9. | "I Know Love" (featuring the Kid Laroi) |
|
| 2:36 |
| 10. | "Like I Do" |
| Boutin[B] | 3:02 |
| 11. | "It's OK I'm OK" |
| 2:36 | |
| 12. | "No I'm Not in Love" |
|
| 2:50 |
| 13. | "Means I Care" |
|
| 2:55 |
| 14. | "Greenlight" |
| Boutin[B] | 2:45 |
| 15. | "Nostalgia" |
| Boutin[A] | 3:03 |
| Total length: | 42:34 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Trying on Shoes" |
| 3:02 | |
| 2. | "Anything but Love" |
|
| 2:27 |
| 3. | "Nobody's Girl" |
|
| 2:48 |
| 4. | "Horseshoe" |
|
| 3:01 |
| 5. | "Tit for Tat" |
|
| 2:57 |
| 6. | "Miss Possessive" |
|
| 2:19 |
| 7. | "Revolving Door" |
|
| 3:00 |
| 8. | "Bloodonmyhands" (featuring Flo Milli) |
| Boutin | 2:42 |
| 9. | "Dear God" |
|
| 2:51 |
| 10. | "Purple Lace Bra" |
| Haynie | 3:11 |
| 11. | "Sports Car" |
|
| 2:45 |
| 12. | "Signs" |
| Lostboy | 2:53 |
| 13. | "I Know Love" (featuring the Kid Laroi) |
|
| 2:36 |
| 14. | "Like I Do" |
| Boutin | 3:02 |
| 15. | "It's OK I'm OK" |
|
| 2:36 |
| 16. | "No I'm Not in Love" |
|
| 2:50 |
| 17. | "Means I Care" |
|
| 2:55 |
| 18. | "Greenlight" |
| Boutin | 2:45 |
| 19. | "2 Hands" |
|
| 3:02 |
| 20. | "Siren Sounds" |
|
| 3:03 |
| 21. | "Nostalgia" |
| Boutin | 3:03 |
| Total length: | 59:48 | |||
Notes
- ^[a] denotes an additional producer.
- ^[v] denotes a vocal producer.
- All So Close to What titles are stylized in sentence case, with the exception of "Bloodonmyhands", which is stylized in letter case; additional titles on So Close to What??? are stylized in all caps.
- Additional editions were released to streaming media alongside the standard digital edition with altered track listings:
- 16-track edition: "2 Hands" is listed as the fourteenth track, with "Siren Sounds" added as the fifteenth track, and the remaining songs listed in succession order to the standard digital edition.[56]
- 11-track edition: "Bloodonmyhands", "I Know Love", "Like I Do", "Means I Care", and "Siren Sounds" are omitted; the remaining songs are listed in order matching the 16-track edition.[57]
- A 21-track deluxe digital store edition includes Sirius XM live versions of "Sports Car", "It's OK I'm OK", and "Greenlight" as bonus tracks, following after the 18-track edition listing.[58]
- Physical editions of the album feature an altered track listing of 13 tracks. "Bloodonmyhands", "I Know Love", "Like I Do" and "Means I Care" are omitted. "Signs" and "Revolving Door" are listed as tracks five and seven, respectively, with bonus tracks "Better than I Was" and "Call My Bluff" listed as tracks eleven and twelve, respectively. The rest of the songs remain in their original order.[59]
- The Japanese CD edition features "It's OK I'm OK" (live at Madison Square Garden) as a bonus track.[60]
Personnel
Musicians
- Tate McRae – lead vocals
- Ryan Tedder – programming (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 11–13), background vocals (1, 3, 5, 12, 13), synthesizer (1, 3, 12); drums, guitar (1); keyboards (3, 7, 12, 13); arrangement, percussion (11)
- Blake Slatkin – guitar, programming, synthesizer (track 1)
- Lostboy – programming (tracks 2, 8, 12); keyboards, synthesizer (8, 12)
- Grant Boutin – background vocals, keyboards, programming, synthesizer, synthbass (tracks 3, 5, 7, 14, 15); guitar (7, 14, 15)
- Ilya – arrangement, background vocals, bass, drums, keyboards, piano, programming (track 11)
- Zach Fenske – guitar (track 11)
- Darion Ja'Von Dean – programming (track 11)
- Phillip Lewis – programming (track 11)
- Rob Bisel – keyboards, programming (track 13)
Technical
- Dave Kutch – mastering
- Serban Ghenea – mixing (tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 11)
- Manny Marroquin – mixing (tracks 4, 6, 10, 15)
- Tom Norris – mixing (tracks 8, 12, 14)
- Jon Castelli – mixing (track 9)
- Rob Bisel – mixing (track 13)
- Rich Rich – engineering (tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 8, 11–13)
- Blake Slatkin – engineering (track 1)
- Bryce Bordone – engineering (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7), engineering assistance (2, 11)
- Grant Boutin – engineering (tracks 3, 5, 7, 14, 15)
- Melvin Godfrey – engineering (tracks 6, 11)
- Silas Wong – engineering (tracks 6, 11)
- Joe Henderson – engineering (track 6)
- Brad Lauchert – engineering (track 9)
- Sam Holland – engineering (track 11)
- Anthony Vilchis – mixing assistance (tracks 4, 6, 10, 15)
- Trey Station – mixing assistance (tracks 4, 6, 10, 15)
Charts
So Close to What
|
So Close to What???
|
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[118] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[119] | Platinum | 40,000‡ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[120] | 2× Platinum | 160,000‡ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[121] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
| France (SNEP)[122] | Gold | 50,000‡ |
| Hungary (MAHASZ)[123] | Gold | 2,000‡ |
| Netherlands (NVPI)[124] | Gold | 18,600‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[125] | Platinum | 15,000‡ |
| Poland (ZPAV)[126] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| Portugal (AFP)[127] | Gold | 3,500‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[128] | Platinum | 300,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[53] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||