Rising star Tate Mcrae released her sophomore album ‘THINK LATER’ in early December. The album was long anticipated after her hit single “greedy” gained traction on social media for its catchiness and Mcrae’s performances of the song. This hype and anticipation have created a big demand for the release of the album with high expectations. We’ll take a deeper look at the record and evaluate if the album lives up to the demand and expectations it has set.
For starters, the album had mounts of competition on the charts upon its release, with the release date being the same as Nicki Minaj’s long and anticipated album “Pink Friday 2.” Aside from the competition, the album charted extremely well for being released on such a competitive day, debuting at number four on the Billboard 200 chart and selling over 66k units in its first week. Numbers like these are highly impressive for Mcrae, as she is a newer star.
It is safe to say that the album’s initial success on the charts was well deserved, with all of the songs on the album creating a very cohesive and well-complemented sound. Starting with the lead singles, both “greedy” and “exes” have a well-rounded trap-pop sound to them, with the song styles being very similar to artists like Ariana Grande. Like most albums, the songs on this record discuss relationships that range from positive to negative, like “run for the hills,” which explores the reality of unhealthy and toxic relationships, or “hurt my feelings,” which talks about having a crush on someone who you know you cannot have. It is clear that Mcrae has taken inspiration from peers like Ariana Grande, with her song “think later,” heavily emulating the rhythm and beat of Grande’s unreleased song “Jada.”
Something that definitely stood out to me about the album was how different it was compared to her first debut record. Compared to her first album, this record contained more trap-pop and didn’t categorize itself as a teen-hit album. It had much more of a unique sound with more inspiration from the 2000s, which made it stand out a lot more. Her fierce attitude is apparent throughout the record, especially in the song “we’re not alike” where she discusses toxic friendship.
No album can go without its cons though, with the duration of the record being only 38 minutes and every song being no longer than three minutes, it’s disappointing that every song is so short. With how good and unique each of the songs are, it would’ve been nice to have more lengthier songs that are over the three-minute mark. This has been a new trend in pop music to have songs shorter than three minutes which is such an inconvenience and fairly annoying. The songs all have catchy beats and enjoyable lyrics make up for how short it is though.
In all, the album is one that definitely deserves its success and the praise it is receiving. With the message in the album being clear, to every song being distinct but cohesive, “THINK LATER” is definitely one of the best pop albums that has been released this year, and definitely solidifies Tate Mcrae’s status as an upcoming pop icon.
