Tate McRae has done it again. With the release of her new song “Sports car,” McRae has gone three for three on her most recent singles that she has released for her new album So Close To What, releasing on February 21, 2025. The song captures the feeling of a flirtatious chase with a catchy experimental chorus and confident lyrics creating a new vibe for McRae’s music. As she said of her sophomore album Think Later, the “sad girl bit got a little boring,” and she is taking that to a brand new level.
Tate McRae, a Canadian pop star, started her career in 2017 when she debuted her first song “One Day” with RCA records. From there, she continued her career with the release of two EPs “All The Things I Never Said” in 2020 and “Too Young to be This Sad” in 2021. From her EP Too Young to be This Sad, her hit song “You Broke Me First” peaked in the top ten for the Canadian Hot 100 and landed at number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2022, she peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard 200 with her debut album I Used to Think I Could Fly, which began to direct her in a more pop focused music genre. Her true rise to fame is her hit single “Greedy” that blew up on social media and became a worldwide success, peaked atop the Canadian charts, and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 100. Later in 2023, McRae released her sophomore studio album Think Later, which became a global success with hits like “Exes” and “Running for the hills.”
McRae also gained mass popularity and success from her successful dance career prior to her pop career. Having danced her entire life, she brings a new twist on the early 2000s style of dancing to her performances. While many pop performances in modern ages are mainly focused on vocals, like Taylor Swift, Billie Ellish, and Gracie Abrams, along with some dance and visual effects, McRae goes all out with her dance moves and back-up dancers. Many people say she is like a new Britiany Spears with their similar dancing styles.
( TateMcRae.com)
What makes a good song really comes down to two things: the lyrics and how danceable it is. “Sports Car’” checks both of those boxes. With lyrics like “ No. you aint got no Mrs/ but you got a sports car” and “I think that you know what this is,” McRae creates this environment that just makes you wanna dance and play hard to get. This has been something that Tate McRae has done in the past with some of her songs like “Hurt my Feelings” and “10:35,” but there is something about this song that just embraces that feeling of chasing after someone.
Throughout the song there are clean beats that only change between the verses and chorus, making more of an emphasis during the chorus, that is sung in a lower whisper tone which creates an enticing tone to the song as it is sung toward someone who has a sports car. Along with the backtrack, McRae is able to create a very danceable song that is great for an upbeat and lively environment. I can definitely see this song being a part of people’s get ready playlist or being played in high energy environments.
( TateMcRae.com )
The concept of the sports car and racing has become a recurring theme throughout Tate McRea’s new music with her other hit single “2 Hands.” The music video includes a McLaren 750s sports car and her back up dancers in racing gear. This switch up is refreshing and exciting to see, especially compared to her older music which was more “sad girl pop,” and has become a recurring theme for pop music for the past couple of years. Tate McRae has truly set the tone for what upbeat pop music should sound like. Enough of being sad about being broken up with and writing a lyrical song that includes multiple different allusions to people or things nobody understands. Confident and upbeat lively pop music that makes people want to dance is what should become the pop artist’s new goal, and Tate McRae is one of the few artists in this generation to do that.
The song has definitely created excitement for the album which will release soon, and it will hopefully offer more songs along the same lines as “Sports Car” and her other singles. The song definitely has earned a 4 out of 5 star rating with its flirty lyrics, danceable beat, and amazing music video. Tate McRae is on the right track to becoming the next big pop star and energizing pop music. Let’s hope she doesn’t take her foot off the pedal anytime soon.
