On Feb. 21, 2025, Tate McRae released her third studio album, So Close to What, which is currently sitting third on Billboard’s “Billboard 200” list. Its popularity continues, gaining the title of Spotify’s number one USA album for March 3-6. The album has been a hot topic even before its release, when it got leaked. Now, the “Hot 100” track, “Revolving Door” is trending for an iconic scorpion leg-hold-into-bridge feature in the music video, which you may know as the trend of people either failing the challenging skill or rocking it—there’s not much in between.
The overwhelming media presence this album has received points toward the conclusion that the songs are repeat-worthy, which is proven by the stats. But why is this album standing out specifically, when it’s surrounded by a world of other repeat-worthy songs?
Overall, the album marks McRae’s shift toward getting older and more mature, which is especially noticeable in the lyrics of “Nostalgia,” my personal favourite. But there are a few moments throughout the album that are particularly hyping up listeners.
The opening track, “Miss Possessive“ begins with Sydney Sweeney’s voice saying “No seriously, get your hands off my man,” which obviously got fans excited. This is followed by a collab with Flo Milli—an unexpected yet powerful duo. Next up on the iconic list is the Kid Laroi collab. In case you missed it, the two singers are dating, and this was their first collaboration. The track “Purple Lace Bra,” despite what seems to be an entirely obvious meaning, is actually about the media (woah).
On top of these discussion-worthy moments, McRae’s recent actions seem to have a magnet for going viral. From predicting the Super Bowl results, getting mentioned in a Drake song, being featured on SNL, and releasing merch that addresses the album leak—there’s no shortage of McRae headlines to subtly remind you of her latest album. I can’t decide if this is marketing genius or a series of flukes. Either way, I can’t go a day without seeing McRae all over my social media feeds, which always reminds me to listen to her music.
Less discreetly though, and where I personally think McRae’s team is killing their job, is in the unpredictable releases of single tracks from the album, which have retained anticipation and combated the leak. Back in Sept. 2024, “It’s ok I’m ok” was released, which was immediately a Billboard hit. A month later, “2 hands” went viral for its dance break. Two months later, on Jan. 24, 2025, “Sports car” was quickly the new dance trend. Following the Jan. 16 album leak, McRae miraculously went back into the studio to add two more tracks. But the saga doesn’t end there. Three days after releasing So Close to What, a bonus track that had been taken off the original album (called “Siren Sounds”) was added.
The biggest viral-worthy trait So Close to What has though, is its dance-worthy beats—who doesn’t want to dance when “Sports Car” comes on? However, behind the stream of dances choreographed to the album lies a much deeper detail that may be one of the keys to the album’s success.
From 2010 to 2017, the average BPM (beats per minute) for dance and club music decreased by a sharp eighteen percent, from 130 down to 108. Plus a survey of the top 20 songs currently on “Billboard Hot 100”, revealed the average BPM of today’s top songs are one of two extremes—below 107 or above 120. This shows the overall current popular tempo for a song is either notably low or notably high. Either by chance or expert planning, the average BPM of McRae’s latest album also sits at that sweet spot of above 120 or below 108, which fits almost precisely with the trend. Side note: McRae’s album, coincidentally or not, is perfect for hip-hop or contemporary dance, which just so happens to be the top two dance genres of 2024.
So what does this mean? So Close to What is crafted to be the perfect tempo and genre of music in 2025.
The conclusion—McRae’s songs are the perfect tempo for going viral in 2025, the singer’s media presence makes the album hard to forget, and the album is, in my opinion, an amazing pop album to listen to for almost any occasion.