Tate McRae’s third studio album, ‘So Close to What,’ just released today and the pop singer opens up about the inspiration behind her album. From her multitude of looks in the “Sports Car” music video, to her raw honesty in “Purple Lace Bra,” to a deep conversation with her dad leading to “Nostalgia,” Tate McRae shares her story behind her new album.
What did you think of her album? Let us know in the comments!
What did you think of her album? Let us know in the comments!
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MusicTranscript
00:00Is a Ferrari like a sports car?
00:02I like a Ferrari.
00:05Sometimes it can be a bit of a mind fuck.
00:07I remember crying on my 21st birthday.
00:09Creation is supposed to be from a place of total freedom.
00:24I mean, my team is fucking chaotic.
00:27We have very ambitious shoots.
00:29We want to do everything in the world.
00:31And I'm also just like a bulldog on music.
00:34I'm just like, let's get everything done.
00:36I don't need a lunch break.
00:37Like, let's just go.
00:38Everyone's screaming at me, like, whip your hair.
00:40Go.
00:41It's like, it's literally chaotic.
00:42The last set of the day, and it was the tank.
00:45And we were shooting the whole thing on film,
00:46so we only had so much left.
00:47And the director, my creative director, my hairstylist,
00:51everyone would be like, whip your hair.
00:52Dance.
00:53And then eventually, like, I dunked my head underwater
00:55and my whole wig fell off.
00:56And I was like, guys.
00:58This is literally insane.
01:06What I need in the studio, as long as I just have a person
01:10that doesn't make me feel awkward,
01:13then I can write a good song.
01:14If I have people who are open to, like, the worst ideas ever,
01:19I feel like I'll usually spit out good stuff.
01:23But if there's a judgy crowd or energy in the room,
01:25it's, like, literally one of the most dreadful processes
01:29of all time.
01:30I knew I wanted to put Sports Car out
01:32mostly because I felt like it was a big swing for me
01:35as a dancer, and I could really see that song visually.
01:38Whenever a song kind of scares you in the studio,
01:42there's some magic to it.
01:43And I was really terrified of that song for a long time.
01:46We had referenced the Yang Yang Twins, the Whisper song.
01:49And that was a bold move for a pop song.
01:56Julia Michaels, I had worked with her back when I was 16.
02:00I was just very confused about what kind of music
02:03I wanted to make.
02:04And so it was interesting coming this time around,
02:06knowing that I wanted to make a dance song,
02:08knowing what I wanted the sonics to sound like.
02:11And so I was like, this is the beat that we need.
02:13She was like, I might sound crazy,
02:16but I think we should do a whisper chorus.
02:18I was like, Julia, that is insane.
02:21Because I also love a melodic chorus.
02:24That's really freaky.
02:25Also, I'm not a rapper.
02:27It's not just me in an 808 going ham on a chorus.
02:31I am a pop girl.
02:33So I was like, we have to execute this perfectly
02:36for this to work.
02:37I mean, I just feel very lucky to be in the studio
02:41with such legends.
02:43Julia Michaels, Ryan Tedder, I've looked up to them
02:45for so long.
02:46And every day, I get to work.
02:48I am just gaining more knowledge on music
02:51and things that I never knew.
02:52It's so interesting walking into a room
02:54with my perspective and then taking their perspective
02:57and putting it together.
02:58I think it's a really special thing.
03:00Ryan gives me advice every day.
03:01He has advice on everything in life.
03:04He's just like a man full of facts.
03:06When I started writing music when I was like 13, 14,
03:09I didn't even know what the structure of a song was.
03:12And I had self-taught pianos.
03:14I wasn't really aware of what I was doing.
03:16I was just doing it.
03:17And it's been interesting to see why
03:20a chorus feels euphoric.
03:22Or if it gives you that serotonin boost,
03:24it's usually because the notes before it aren't touching it.
03:27Or if the message of the song right before
03:29sets it up perfectly.
03:30There's human instincts that connect with music
03:33that's so interesting you would never think about.
03:35But it's been interesting to learn.
03:42I really wanted to find the contrast
03:45between a very sexy top line and a sexy melody
03:48and a really heartbreaking story.
03:50I worked with Emile Haney on the production on this
03:53who is just a god.
03:54He's one of my favorite producers of all time.
03:57And Amy Allen.
03:58I think I was honestly just feeling a little sensitive
04:02as a girl at this time.
04:04It's not a normal thing to be perceived by that many people
04:08when you're releasing music,
04:09when you're putting yourself out there.
04:11Sometimes it can be a bit of a mind fuck.
04:13And so honestly the song was about
04:14my relationship with me in the media.
04:16Feeling like a woman for the first time.
04:18Feeling sexualized for the first time.
04:20And feeling like people weren't receiving my work
04:24how I wanted it to be received.
04:31I feel like it's once my story
04:33and then as soon as I give it out to the world
04:35you have to learn to detach from it.
04:37Let people put it into their own lives.
04:39Otherwise it can be a really terrifying thing.
04:41Feeling like you're airing out your whole life
04:43for the world to see.
04:47I just had this reoccurring theme
04:50that was going on in my life.
04:51Thinking the same thoughts,
04:52making the same choices,
04:53going back to the same people.
04:55My life just kind of felt like
04:56this never-ending revolving door.
04:58And a lot of the imagery for this album
05:00was like a never-ending road,
05:01a never-ending door.
05:02Because I felt like I was sometimes
05:04just going towards something
05:05where I could never see a finish line.
05:07It was a really fun song to play with
05:09because I realized it was not only about a relationship
05:11but it was also about me
05:12and my inability to let go of that.
05:14But it was also about me
05:15and my inability to make decisions
05:17and me chasing this career that I was like
05:19oh my god, what do I want out of this?
05:21And so you can kind of see in the bridge of the song
05:23it goes from a relationship song
05:25to a fully introspective song
05:27about my personality
05:29and how I literally just can't make my mind up.
05:31Well, I'm a cancer, so...
05:45I have a song called Nostalgia on the record
05:47and it closes out the album.
05:48It honestly stemmed from a conversation
05:50I had with my dad
05:51and I think I was in Barcelona with him.
05:53My mom and dad had flown out on tour to see me
05:55and I was doing all these rapid-fire questions with them.
05:58I'm like, what's your biggest regret?
05:59What do you wish you did in your life?
06:01All my deep, annoying questions.
06:02And I remember asking my dad,
06:04do you regret anything in your life?
06:06And he was just like, well,
06:07I wish I would have been an architect in my life.
06:09And I was like, that's so crazy
06:11that someone could go their whole life
06:13wishing to do something and not do it.
06:15And we had this whole long conversation
06:17about how that's the reason why he raised me
06:20how he raised me,
06:21was to be like, you can't miss out on things in life.
06:23You gotta do what you're passionate about
06:25and do what feels authentic.
06:26Otherwise, you feel like life kind of passes you by sometimes.
06:35I think in this career, in this lifestyle,
06:37it can feel like you're sometimes working
06:39towards nothing and everything.
06:42Constantly going and going and going
06:44and trying to find a reason.
06:45The reason is the moments you make in the meantime
06:49and the process of it all.
06:50You realize that you never, ever hit that point.
06:53It just always keeps going up.
06:55Touches on how I felt about turning 21
06:58and the feeling of being heartbroken
07:00and falling in love again, dealing with relationships.
07:03As a 21-year-old, you're also freshly an adult,
07:06but also you're still young.
07:09In your head, you feel like
07:11you're the oldest person on earth.
07:13That's how I've felt a lot.
07:14I was like, oh my God,
07:15I should have everything figured out by this age.
07:17This is my time.
07:19You also feel like you're one years old too
07:21because you're like, holy shit,
07:22I just started living a life alone.
07:24I remember crying on my 21st birthday.
07:26Mostly because I feel like as a young girl,
07:28you picture 21 as the year where you would watch your idols.
07:33You're like, oh, they're 21 and they're prime
07:35and they're doing their thing
07:36and they've got it all figured out.
07:37I got to 21 and I was like, oh, this feels a little
07:40this feels a little different than I thought it would.
07:46I'm really excited for this tour.
07:48Obviously, I feel like I'm just hitting the surface
07:51of what I want to do dance-wise and performance-wise.
07:54And I think there's some really deep and dark messages
07:58behind a lot of my songs that I want to crack a little.
08:01That sounded weird.
08:03That I want to open up a little further
08:06and really work with my choreographers
08:07and my creative directors
08:08and try to figure out a message for everything
08:11and make it feel like a whole story.