Credit: Mischa Lee

Join WSPN’s Mischa Lee as she expresses her opinion about rising pop star Tate McRae’s new album, “THINK LATER.”

Rising pop star Tate McRae has been keeping many of her fans on their toes with the release of her sophomore album, “THINK LATER.” After her first album, “i used to think i could fly” was released in 2022, McRae’s fans wanted more, and “THINK LATER” satisfied their hearts. The album quickly becoming No. 1 on Apple Music in more than 10 countries.

McRae teased the album by releasing the songs “greedy” on Sept. 15, 2023 and “exes” on Nov. 16, 2023. With these releases, it was clear that the tone of the album differed greatly from McRae’s freshman album, “i used to think i could fly.” McRae’s freshman album was more about her pain, hurt and a feeling of being lost. On the other hand, her sophomore album speaks volumes about her self-confidence.

McRae’s 2023 album brings out a retro, early-2000s vibe, and I think it’s perfect for McRae. Going along with the theme of full blown confidence, “THINK LATER” starts off with the song “cut my hair.” With lyrics like “just wanna show you whatever she do, I can do it better” and “good girls, so overrated” McRae fully shows how much she’s grown from the “i used to think i could fly” girl that she was. She’s showing her fans that she can and is flying now.

Another song under the category of confidence and the song that surprised me the most the title track “think later.” McRae has never had a song with such an intense bass line and beat, but it was a nice touch to the album. The lyrics “live now, think later, I do it so well” truly show off her confidence with not caring and not overthinking.

In contrast to the confident front she puts on through the album, we still get many vulnerable songs weaved in throughout. McRae admits to the fact that she needs to cut someone off but can’t, and loves someone that she shouldn’t love. This message is mainly reflected in the song “stay done” with lyrics, “Yeah, I know we should break up, but I just can’t stay done with you, you.” Also, in “run for the hills,” McRae expresses that the relationship with her mystery person is “never gon’ ever be more than just something that’s fuckin’ me up.”

If you dig deeper into the album, you can see that a piece of McRae is still stuck back in her freshman album, “i used to think i could fly.” McRae includes songs like “calgary” and “plastic palm trees” to show that she still hides things under a facade of “a perfect life.” In “calgary,” McRae explains how she’s now 20, but still feels 15, experiencing the “same fears, same dreams.” A lyric that stuck out to me was, “I thought that I was getting better, no I got better at pretending.” On top of that, in “plastic palm trees,” McRae sings about how it seemed like everything was perfect, but she “got in a dream” and ” its not what it seems.” These songs and lyrics show how under the surface of being in the spotlight, McRae still deals with hardship and her life is still not completely perfect.

McRae pieced together an album of many different feelings, showing how she has mentally grown a lot from when she released “i used to think i could fly.” However, McRae still feels some of the same feelings of being lost, and I think she perfectly encapsulated all of these emotions into one album. McRae is a rising pop star who not only can dance, songwrite and sing, but she’s a performer too. This album is truly launching off her career into something greater than it has been before.