The day we have all been waiting for: Tate McRae’s sophomore album THINK LATER is finally out everywhere and it exceeded my expectations and caught me by surprise in many ways. The Canadian pop sensation has been on everyone’s radar these days, and rightfully so. She has been in the spotlight for quite some time now, but is yet just getting started. Not only is she one of the most talented human beings out there, but she has become one of my favorite people over the years. Tate has the kindest heart, most genuine personality and spreads so much love, light and joy wherever she goes.
After the success of her debut album i used to think i could fly – or lettuce as she likes to call it – THINK LATER followed with a bang no one saw coming. It includes the viral TikTok dance bop greedy and the second album single exes; both with music videos that blew our minds and gave us a piece of the 2000s music era back. While those two songs have had their time to fly, we finally got to hear the rest of the tracklist in its full glory, so let’s get into it.
The album starts with cut my hair which – according to Tate – is meant to be the transition track from her first album to the second one, as there is a switch in tone and personality. It is definitely the perfect introduction into her 20s era and as the saying goes “a woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life”, right? The lyrics are very provocative and the little black dress reference is definitely giving revenge vibes. We are getting a rebellious and feisty Tate with this track, because as she says the “sad girl bit got a little boring” and “good girls are overrated”. We are here for it.
The second track is the infamous viral TikTok dance bop greedy that everyone and their mothers had on their for you page constantly since it was teased. The song took on a life of its own with currently over 463 Million Spotify streams and counting, 20 Billion global video views on TikTok and that’s not even all of it, but it is very well deserved. It’s catchy, it makes you wanna blast it loudly in your car and dance to it, even when you weren’t blessed with any rhythm in your body.
If you follow Tate on TikTok, you have heard a snippet of run for the hills before it dropped and I’m pretty sure you got obsessed with it instantly, because I sure did. It talks about a never ending relationship that you should be running far away from, but you keep running in circles and can’t break the toxic cycle. While this is about a romantic relationship, you can adapt this to any relation-, friend- or situationship you stay in, even though all the red flags are raised and all the rules you set are being broken.
The chorus of this track gets fully stuck in your head immediately and all you wanna do is scream it to the people it reminds you of. As much as we want to be wanted by those whose love isn’t returned, we have to find a way to break out of the illusion when the reality is one-sided effort and no respect. At the end of the day, it’s just gonna hurt your feelings.
Speaking of hurt my feelings, the next track of the album. It continues to tell a story of how the signs should have been clear, but it sometimes takes a while to crack the case and figure someone out. We all meet toxic people that make us think “I should have known better” but that is just life. Everyone crosses our paths for a reason and some are more a lesson than a blessing. In Tate’s case it was both, because not only did we get a phenomenal album out of it, but this work of art is gonna catapult her to the top of the music industry and crown her with the success she deserves.
Making its debut on SNL, grave hit us all out of the blue. While we all had the live version on repeat since that day, the studio cut just hits differently. Hearing her precious voice and little laugh in the background gives it a special touch and the lyrics could not be more relatable. You try to change someone, to fix their bad habits and you have given them one chance too many to the point where you gotta save yourself before you go down with them. No matter if this reminds you of a past relationship, a situationship or even a toxic family member, this song is for everyone who had too much sympathy for people who didn’t deserve it. My favorite lyric from this song is “I hold my grudges like I held you”. No explanation necessary.
Going into stay done, you can feel the indecisiveness between love and hate, being best friends and enemies. We often find ourselves at a dead end, walking on a one way street that won’t change its course no matter how many times you step on it. Everyone has or had people in their lives they can’t stay done with, because we let the good memories and love overweigh all the negative actions that can’t be denied. At the end of the day, some people never change, no one deserves to be treated poorly and we need to learn to be accepting of a chapter that had to end for our own good. The message in this song is clear and Tate’s vocals shine through beautifully. If you have been in this situation before, scream it out and let it go!
Going from a sad song into an upbeat track is something Tate knows how to do very well. Even though exes was written in 15 and produced in 90 minutes, it went off on TikTok instantly and kept growing even more after its release. The music video was full of album easter eggs, the most obvious: Tate getting into a Wrangler at the end of it, with a snippet of grave playing on the radio. This song is definitely one you can have dance parties to by yourself or with friends and dedicate it to everyone who did you dirty. And the rap part in the second verse definitely made our wigs fly. The line that resonates with me the most from this one is “I ain’t married, I ain’t 30” and that is a good thing, for me at least.
While most of the songs on this album are about a past romantic relationship, we’re not alike talks about the betrayal of a friend. If you have been on this earth for a long time, you have most certainly experienced the loss of a good or even best friend for whatever reason that might be. If not, then you just got lucky. Just imagine someone promised to have your back for life, supported your new relationship and then comes around and stabs you in the back, not once but twice. The line “I got a lack of good judgment, judgin’ by the fact I got close to you” says it all and it’s the sassy kinda lyrics we love hearing from Tate. To be honest, there are a lot of these lyrics throughout this album and it lights up a fire in everyone who hears it and can connect it to someone they used to know.
The next song Calgary is definitely a fan favorite as it is one of the most vulnerable songs on THINK LATER. Even before the album came out, Tate knew that this one was gonna hit us hard and it did indeed. Growing up in a small town and moving to the big city comes with its perks as well as its downfalls. You might manage to always land on your feet, but what if those problems you carry around like a chain around your neck, are what weighs you down? Life can hold you in a chokehold and you don’t know how to snap out of it. Meanwhile everyone thinks you’re doing better, that you have it all figured out, but you just got better at pretending you’re fine.
We do our best to protect ourselves and our mental health by putting on a brave face, but when we take off those masks at the end of the day, the reality looks dark and cloudy. Having an “I’ll figure it out” mentality keeps you going, but one day those words need to turn into action. Hearing these lyrics from Tate was heartbreaking, because ultimately you have no idea what your favorite artist is going through when they lay in bed at night crying their eyes out.
Someone’s life and relationship can be messier than you think and the song that follows has proven that. This one was claimed by a lot of fans pre-release and the excitement that followed the tracklist reveal was massive. It’s one of those incredibly well written scenarios a lot of people seem to find their own truths in, but just listening to it line by line it just captivates you. Someone can make you trust and believe them only so many times until the truth reveals the complete opposite. Even when the same story plays on repeat over and over again, you keep going at it and there is no happy ending in sight.
No matter how much you love someone, if they are that one person who can hurt you the most, then run for the hills and stay done, literally. With this track, Tate has caused a wave of emotions for fans everywhere and her pure tone just hits on a different level. If you were a mess already reaching this track, it’s only gonna get messier.
Just for now, wipe your tears, because think later is about to bring you right back up and is definitely meant to be listened on blast in the car. The phrase “live now, think later” could definitely be a life motto if you are someone who makes rational decisions in life or would love to live life more carefree. When I heard the lyrics and references in this song, my jaw was on the floor. As someone who is well educated on all the tea and remembers anything that is not relevant for my own life, I was left speechless. You get to experience a very reckless Tate in this track and this one definitely represents her alter ego Tatiana who we know is very bold when she takes the stage.
One of my absolute favorite tracks on the album is guilty conscience, because it just gets me going. As someone who grew up with 2000s pop hits, the sample of Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ got me hooked. It fits perfectly and every time that chorus hits it sparks such happy vibes inside of me, even when the song is not telling a very positive story. In these lyrics, Tate talks about disappointment, different types of betrayal and the fact that she was well aware of what was going on, but she was too deep in that mess and turned a blind eye.
Being hijacked by someone you loved so deeply feels criminal and that good life becomes a never ending nightmare. The day you cut that person loose is the day you leave the guilty conscience behind and start demanding the respect, loyalty and love you deserve in any relationship moving forward. And one thing is for sure: We gotta protect Tate McRae at all costs!
The song that hit home the most for me was want that too. I love finding my own truth in music, even when it sometimes opens up a box full of emotions that I buried deep down to never be touched again. We need to learn how to heal from the past, instead of pushing it to the back of our minds and letting it haunt us forever. How many times have you given your all to someone, even though you couldn’t afford to lose it and then one day you get blindsided and stabbed in the back, like the chapter you shared with someone didn’t mean anything? I have. And then you put yourself back together just for them to come back to take more of what they already didn’t deserve in the first place.
Any situationship, no matter if it’s a friend, partner or family member, should be an equal giving and receiving and not end up emptying you out. The best thing you can do is to cut off all access, recharge your light and share it with people who won’t try to dim it until it goes out. Tate’s switch in tone when she goes into the chorus hit me harder than I expected, but it’s been very therapeutic at the same time. No one makes music like she does, she has such a precious tone that is her own and a lot of us wouldn’t have made it to the other side without it and her bright presence in our lives.
As we reach the last song on the album, we are also experiencing the end scene of a movie. With Tate being a visual person and writing her songs like scenes in a movie, listening to plastic palm trees I saw her driving away in a car towards the sunset into the next era of her life. I didn’t really know what to expect when I saw the title on the tracklist, but it exceeded my expectations in the best way. It talks about the fact that success doesn’t necessarily make you happy, because it can still feel lonely sometimes. Especially living in a big city like Los Angeles, all seems more fake than it is real.
You drive through the city, you see all these palm trees and the aesthetic looks like a dream, just perfect until it isn’t. Finding true friends and dating someone who is looking for something real is hard as it is, so we can only imagine how it becomes even more challenging when you are in the public eye.
There is no perfect way to sum up such a masterpiece, lyrically, vocally and creatively, but all I can say is that it has taken us on a journey of real emotions, a rollercoaster of sadness, sassiness and unexpected storylines. If you know me, you know how much I love Tate and the impact her music has had on my life. She has gotten me and millions of others through some of our most challenging times and darkest moments and there truly are no words to justify how much that means.
I have said this before, but I will say it again: Tate is the future of the music industry and she has only touched the surface of all the incredible things she is gonna achieve in this lifetime. As you can tell from this album, growing up hasn’t become less chaotic, neither for Tate nor any of us. But this album is exactly what we needed, so go listen to it, buy tickets for the Think Later Tour and take a moment today to let her beautiful sound light up your heart.
ROARA Magazine 