Tate McRae’s new album, “So Close to What” is scheduled for release Feb. 21, 2025—but you may have already heard it. Some fans are listening, others are condemning, and there’s a chance McRae planned the whole thing.
On November 14, 2024, McRae announced her new album So Close to What, and then 20 minutes later, the singer advertised her 2025 “Miss Possessive Tour.”
“i don’t care how i achieve it i WILL be going”
instagram user: lxrna.xx
This news sent fans into a (warranted) frenzy, garnering over 22 thousand comments such as “i don’t care how i achieve it i WILL be going” and “WOAH.” But now months later, it appears fans may have taken the excitement too far.
Although McRae has consistently been a “girls girl” to her fans—even going as far as sending merch to a fan—some of her audience hasn’t quite shared the respect. On January 16, 2025, X user @EllieAnnThomas blatantly announced possession of the unreleased album, offering to send it to any commenter.
While the excitement may be genuine, the action is illegal. The X user posted a cease and desist letter from RCA Records later that evening, and the songs have mostly been taken off social media, where the audio tracks had spread.
If you happened to be doom-scrolling during the leak, you just might have come across one of the songs.
McRae hasn’t officially responded, but took down her most recent TikTok audio captioned “Imagine this on tour omfg” and posted an Instagram story featuring her middle finger. I think it’s safe to say she wasn’t thrilled with the news, and I wouldn’t be either.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t McRae’s first song leak. Songs from the singer’s previous album “THINK LATER” was also leaked prior to release, an issue that has become increasingly common across the media industry—sparking one fan to post spreading awareness.
On the bright side, and what I think fans can safely predict, is that if the album has gained this much excitement, it must be worth the hype.
Two songs from the So Close to What album have already been released as singles: “It’s ok I’m ok” and “2 Hands on Me.” Both of which are in her top five songs on Spotify. And on December 3, 2024, McRae even started posting song teasers and later, a trailer for the album.
There are also an additional two song teasers currently released: “Dear God” and “Revolving Door.” But there’s a pretty good hint in the trailer that “Green Light” will be on the tracklist too.
While the scandal is hot, an alternate theory some fans are leaning to is that the leak was an intentional marketing strategy. The evidence doesn’t particularly point in this direction, but the implications may just benefit the singer in the end.
And while we may never know if this was planned or not, McRae just announced she will be releasing “Sports Car,” another track from the unreleased album on Friday, Jan. 31.
As a fan myself, I understand why people are so eager to hear the album—the two 15-second excerpts are iconic already—but there’s something irreplaceable about waiting for the actual release date. Waking up on February 21st, knowing “Tater Tots” (McRae’s fans) across the globe are all listening to what quite possibly could be the singer’s hottest album yet—I know I’ll be waiting eagerly until then.