Tate McRae released her new album 'think later' and... yeah... (REVIEW)

 

Hi everyone! I haven't posted in a while, so i thought i would make it up with my first ever album review! This one being on Tate McRae's "think later", an album that released literally yesterday. I've been a big fan of Tate McRae, as i have listened to almost all of her discography since One Day (one of her very first songs). i thought she would peak with I Used To Think I Could Fly, her debut album, but then greedy released and oh my that was a bop.

Unfortunately, i may have been right all along at originally peaking with IUTTICF, so let's see.

Track Overview

1. cut my hair (2:55)

Okay, I'm immediately underwhelmed. It immediately starts off with the chorus, which i would be fine with if the chorus was uptempo, but this is midtempo and kinda does nothing. the verse sounds the exact same as the chorus, and there really isn't much to it. The production sounds completely AI generated, and her voice sounds sooooooooooo drowned out in autotune (at least here) where i can't even enjoy it without having to think how artificial it is.  Speaking of artificial, this is the exact type of song an industry plant (like Jax) would make. You then get to the lyrics, which are so drowned out in autotune that you can't even enjoy it, but the blurry lyrics you do enjoy is "make you sweat". sound familiar? Yeah, meh.

28% (Bad)

2. greedy (2:09)

So this is the lead single off of 'think later', meaning uh oh was left as a single everyone will probably forget about. And oh my i'm so glad they chose this instead of uh oh. This is a bop, and although the lyrics are very similar to in cut my hair, the message gets across so much better, and her voice is so much clearer here. It's also much catchier, which is a great sign. I WILLLL WAANNTTTTT MYSELFFFFFF. Bop.

The chorus slaps, gets the message across, and the verses help accompany that. How a song should be. So yeah, expect a high rating for this one...

100% (Perfect)

3. run for the hills (2:23)

'run for the hills' seems to be the focus track off the album (a single released with the album essentially). Good choice. Although it's short, just like greedy, it's still catchy, and although the vocals are ever so slightly drowned out, here they actually work like that. It adds to the whole vibe of the song which i like. On a related note, i just like the title "run for the hills", i really think that's a cool title just by itself.

100% (Perfect)

4. hurt my feelings (2:02)

The shortest song off the album, and just like greedy and run for the hills, this one is insanely catchy. Even more so for this one. It starts off with the intro which i can't lie is kinda bland, but after just 8 seconds it gets excited with this really cool verse and the chorus which is even cooler. Yeah, i actually like this more than greedy AND run for the hills despite it's length. you can't spell Brilliant Outstand Perfection without BOP.

104% (Spectacular)

5. grave (3:13)

the way this is the first song on this album that's actually a reasonable length for a song. Anyways, this is a ballad, albeit a nice but unoriginal one. I usually really like ballads, and this is no exception. The flow is nice, it speeds up after the first chorus which is great, and i like almost every song that gradually progresses from a ballad to midtempo. But, i guess, i just prefered the live version she had performed on Saturday Night Live and this slightly underwhelmed me. Still a great song.

95% (Great)

6. stay done (2:51)

this is another ballad, which i guess i shouldn't be complaining about considering it's Tate McRae, after all. However, unlike grave, this one doesn't really progress. There isn't a live version to compare it to, so that's a plus. It's a pretty song and i like the instrumentals, but it's a "loud ballad" if you will; the instrumentals are loud to drown out the vocals. I guess this can be a good thing, but in 'stay done' it just seems like they're hiding the fact it's a boring song. I still like it, but i'd prefer if it went somewhere.

80% (Good)

7. exes (2:39)

exes is the second single of 'think later' following greedy. It was released 3 weeks prior, and yeah... This isn't really impressing me. It's catchy, but in the repetitive, even slightly annoying way. The lyrics are slightly too mean for my taste, the trap-ish beat is not really my cup of tea, and the whole "kisses to my exes" line is really off-putting and not something i would want in a song. Now, it's still catchy, but not in the way greedy is. The lyrics also sound like if you put "create mean payback music that a 5 year old would write" as a ChatGPT prompt.

Overall, it's still decent; it does sound nice, but it's not much more than that

57% (Decent)

8. we're not alike (3:00)

I really like the electric guitar sound in the intro here. It's really cool. The intro is slightly long, but hey, that's not a big deal at all. the chorus, verse and pre-chorus are all slightly slow, but pretty good. Except for the chorus; it's a really good buildup to the chorus, and there they kinda fumbled it. Now, the chorus is still good, but it's a weak spot of this song. 'we're not alike' also seems to be another case of "hey, let's start upbeat and keep the same beat for the entirety of the song" and it gets boring. Even the bridge is like that. So yeah, it's good, but also not anything special.

73% (Good)

9. calgary (2:20)

So if you don't know, Calgary is her hometown. I really find it neat how she made an ode to her hometown as if it's some miniscule village in Vermont. Either way, still cool. As for the song however... yeah this is another case of a song that stays the tempo the entire time, which i'm not really a fan of. This is perhaps the slowest song off 'think later', and it sounds nice but again - it's not special. It's cool how she's telling a story. Great, that's how music should be. You don't make me automatically like a song because you tell a story. And the "get my shit together line" is again very off putting. It kinda sounds like "hey let's drop a swear word in there to make me sound edgy".

40% (Mediocre)

10. messier (3:57)

'messier' is the longest song on the album (clocking in at almost 4 minutes) and it's not even close. And... this might be my favorite on the album. I really like the midtempo flow of the chorus and the progression of the song, Progression is almost always a big plus of a song. the "tell me, tell me" gives me a major vibe of "past life" by Trevor Daniel and Selena Gomez (remember that) a song i also absolutely love. in 'past life' the lyric is "don't re, don't remind me" which almost sounds like "tori tori" the way they are saying it. So yeah, this is a really cool song. The bridge is a semi-weak spot, but again i still like it so it's not that big of a deal. Is it my favorite? Probably not, but it's still really cool, amazing and i love it.

102% (Spectacular)

11. think later (2:13)

'think later' is the title track off the album... but why is it #11? what? Anyways... yeah, this is kinda annoying, the lyrics are alright and Tate sounds good here, but why... the beat is insanely annoying and loud and not something that's fun to listen to. I can't even tell what Tate is saying because the bass and beat is just so damn loud... Not much else to say. Thank god it's only 2 minutes.

34% (Bad)

12. guilty conscience (2:32)

This one is also slightly annoying, but at least it's slightly enjoyable to listen to. and at least i can actually tell what Tate is talking about here. pretty cool lyrics and song, and i'm liking the rihanna style repetitive lyrics in the chorus and intro. However, that is the annoying part and the verse is much better. This is pretty good, albeit slightly on the short side. But hey, at least it's a good song.

77% (Good)

13. want that too (3:10)

oh look, another ballad! And just like the others (set aside grave) it's not that interesting. This is more on par with her tracks from her last album (IUTTICF). The lyrics are alright even if they're slightly generic. At least they aren't in your face annoying. the production however... yeah the production is alright too, but it's also slightly boring. The vocals have depth to them it seems, which is cool. But, Tate's voice seems to be better on rock-ish songs. 

EDIT: Wait this actually speeds up, nice!

82% (Good)

14. plastic palm trees (2:52)

Creative title, and creative song too. I also like the title of "plastic palm trees" but that isn't as cool of a title as run for the hills. Still, nice song. It doesn't really go anywhere, but that isn't too big of a deal here because it at least sounds nice with a good, kinda ocean-like vibe. It's cool, i like it. But, for a closing track, I expected more.

67% (Decent)

Conclusion

So yeah, I have a few mixed feelings of this album. A bunch of great bops, but then some songs that are either just good and nothing more, or downright bad like 'cut my hair'. Some just aren't interesting, or too drowned out in autotune for me to enjoy.

One thing i can take away from this album is that she might have actually peaked with IUTTICF (I sure hope not) but either way I'm glad she is getting all this success because she is still great with the songs like "greedy" and "hurt my feelings". 

My mom thinks that these songs sound ai-generated, and for some of them, she isn't wrong. However, some of these are genuinely great and even amazing and don't sound AI-generated whatsoever. Especially hurt my feelings and messier.

Overall - 74% (Good)

'think later' doesn't suck, don't get me wrong. It's actually good. But she did fumble the bag in 2 songs in particular which definitely lowered the score.