Tate McRae: Think Later review – the TikTok star eyes the mainstream

The music industry is full of artists who had one hit song that went viral, but cannot seem to become well-known beyond that. Tate McRae, a young Canadian artist, experienced this in 2020 when her song "You Broke Me First" became popular on TikTok. Despite having over 1.27 billion streams on Spotify, her debut album from last year, "I Used to Think I Could Fly," was not well-received. However, her latest album "Think Later" seems like it could be the key to her mainstream success, with a more natural and intuitive approach to creating bangers.

The beginning of the album has been highly successful. The first song, Greedy, has become a hit globally and has a similar sound to Timbaland's music from the mid-2000s. Other songs on the album, such as Exes and the track with a strong bass beat, all follow the same pop-R&B style as Greedy and fit well with McRae's quick and rhythmic delivery. She also shows her ability to perform new wave music with We're Not Alike, a song with sharp and critical lyrics. In addition, her new, more relaxed song, Grave, has a chorus that reminds fans of her earlier hits.

The collection of 14 tracks has a few weak spots that could have been edited out. "Run for the Hills" comes off as basic and predictable trap-pop that was made using an algorithm. However, the overall feel of Think Later is that it could be McRae's gateway to becoming a major player in the industry.