She can sing. She can dance. She's mastered a sultry gaze. She can write a smutty phrase. Is the new princess of dirty, breathy pop? (Sorry, A new Gen Z star approaches.)
The 鈥渉ardest working Canadian recording artist鈥� award must surely go to McRae in 2025, who at age 21 has released her third studio album, 鈥淪o Close to What," and is gearing up for a world tour.
A trained dancer, McRae first garnered attention in 2016 when she was one of the finalists on the 13th season of 鈥淪o You Think You Can Dance." She鈥檚 added songwriting and singing to her resume since then, hoping to become a full-blown pop star. And on 鈥淪o Close to What,鈥� she makes a convincing effort. She just needs to find the tune that will propel her to higher echelons.
The offers an array of serviceably sexy pop songs that harken back to the early 2000s, but mostly skew modern. (Truth be told, the more she looks back, the better the track.) The standouts are the seductive ones that lure the listener in with an earworm chorus, the ones that recognize a good beat and are not afraid to use it: 鈥淪ports car,鈥� 鈥淧urple lace bra鈥� and the brassy 鈥淚t鈥檚 ok I鈥檓 ok鈥� among them.
鈥淢iss possessive,鈥� also the name of her upcoming tour, starts the album in force with a great choppy hook. 鈥淩evolving door鈥� and 鈥淢eans I care鈥� 鈥� both energetic pop bops 鈥� are enhanced by dancehall production.
A duet with McRae's boyfriend, The Kid LAROI, 鈥淚 know love,鈥� is contemporary romance with its trappy hi-hats and nonchalant energy.
The album's verve starts to wane toward the last tracks like in the soft, casual 鈥淕reen Light," or 鈥淣ostalgia,鈥� which breaks out the acoustic guitar and lets McRae really showcase her vocals.
Has she taken the crown of pop princess from Spears with this album? Not quite. But she鈥檚 close.
Cristina Jaleru, The Associated Press
