So Close to What

Tate McRae's third studio album, So Close to What, arrived on February 21, 2025, via RCA Records. The record marks a deliberate shift toward dance-pop, contemporary R&B, and power pop, with McRae co-writing every track. Production duties were shared by a seasoned team including Ryan Tedder, Emile Haynie, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Lostboy, and Blake Slatkin, who helped shape a sound that is both radio-friendly and emotionally charged. The standard edition contains 15 songs on streaming platforms, while physical CDs include two bonus tracks, "Better than I Was" and "Call My Bluff." A deluxe version, So Close to What???, followed with additional material, including the single "Tit for Tat."

Commercially, the album was a breakthrough. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, McRae's first chart-topper in the US, and also reached the top spot in Australia and Canada. The RIAA certified it Gold on March 21, 2025, just one month after release. To support the record, McRae embarked on the Miss Possessive Tour, her first arena tour, signaling her transition from streaming sensation to mainstream headliner.

Critical reception leaned positive, with reviewers praising the album's hooky melodies and cohesive production. A Reddit user on r/popheads called it "insanely hooky, surprisingly cohesive" and rated it 7/10. Apple Music described it as "not exactly a club record, more like a pop record you can viscerally feel." The album also earned McRae a Grammy nomination, though the category was not specified in available sources. [edit]