In May 2022, Tate McRae served as an Uproxx cover star around the release of her debut album, I Used To Think I Could Fly, and reflected on her innocent mindset when moving from her hometown of Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Los Angeles, California at 17 years old.
“Being a Canadian who waltzed into LA, I was very naive,” the now-20-year-old told Caitlin White for Uproxx’s cover story. “I’d walk into every room and see the best in people. ‘Oh no, they wouldn’t hurt a fly. Deep down, they’re a good person.’ I’m just like that — I see the good in people. I had to pull back a bit from trusting everyone and thinking that everyone is in it for the right reasons.”
Eighteen months later, McRae may still see the best in people, but now, she believes in the best of herself. She owns every room — even when she’s not physically walking into it. If you’ve gone grocery shopping, turned on a radio, or scrolled TikTok in the past two months, you have likely heard “Greedy,” McRae’s lead single from her sophomore effort, Think Later, out today (December 8). The seed for McRae’s empowered, high-energy earworm, which became her first top-10 Billboard Hot 100 entry, was unintentionally planted by a man at a bar, drawn to McRae and intrigued to know more about her.
“I see you eyein’ me down, but you’ll never know much past my name,” McRae sings confidently. “Or how I’m runnin’ this room around and that I’m still half your age / Yeah, you’re lookin’ at me like I’m some sweet escape / Obvious that you want me, but I said / ‘I would want myself.’”
First of all, McRae made her name by welcoming people into her most private and vulnerable experiences, insecurities, and thoughts, so we know much more than we deserve to know about her coming of age. Everyone wants a piece of her for a reason. But McRae has not gotten herself here — from winning third place as a preteen on So You Think You Can Dance in 2016 to earning a record deal from RCA in 2019, then winning the hearts of millions with resolute, relatable platinum-certified songs like “You Broke Me First” and “She’s All I Wanna Be” — to impress a strange man at a bar, or any stranger anywhere.
McRae does it because this is all she’s ever wanted. She owes it to herself. She does it for her parents, who were on hand to witness her Saturday Night Live debut as the musical guest on the November 18 episode. She does it for her older brother, Tucker, a hockey player who partially represents why she placed her impressively choreographed, hockey-coded “Greedy” video in an empty hockey rink. In fact, she knew she was onto something when she felt proud to show her friends the “Greedy” video (per her Billboard cover story) because she had not always necessarily felt the same urge to share her past music with friends and family.
“I’ve been sitting on ‘Run For The Hills‘ for nearly a year now, and it has completely stood the test of time,” McRae tells Uproxx one day before Think Later arrives, when asked what track on the album earned her favorite reaction from her inner circle. (For the record, “Run For The Hills” is deliciously ominous in detailing dangerous but thrilling romance.) “It was always a favorite of my friends from Canada, and that always was important to me.”
Elsewhere on the 14-track, Ryan Tedder-produced album, McRae even more directly confirms that her most valued audience hasn’t changed. The acoustic-based, earnestly reflective track “Calgary” begins with McRae wistfully looking back at the childhood she sacrificed while nurturing the parts of that girl still alive within her, a passenger on her rocket ship approaching a different stratosphere of incomprehensible fame and resonance. (She will embark on her international headlining Think Later Tour in 2024, hitting such iconic venues as The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and Madison Square Garden in New York City, as well as her first-ever headlining hometown concert in Calgary.)
“Same bar, same street,” she sings about her hometown. “Same fears, same dreams / Still trying to get my brother to like me / You said that I always seem to land on my feet / But I got problems hangin’ like a chain ’round my neck / Tryin’, but I’m barely seeing past 23.”
As the album’s title implies, McRae is trying her best to just focus on being 20, young, and free. To allow herself to be swept up in the adventure that comes with having her wildest dreams right in front of her, without worrying about how she might land. To live however feels truest and most satisfying to her. She hasn’t perfected that practice because she is human, and I’ve never met a human who has perfected living life, let alone a young woman forced to adapt to countless people dissecting how she chooses to live her life. But the point is that she’s trying. She’s willing to put her all into living imperfectly anyway, which might be the rarest characteristic a person can possess.
The bass-heavy title track captures this, as she sings in the hook, “Live now, think later / I do it so well.” We should thank her because that resulted in Think Later, proving she has perfected making a resounding pop album.
Below, McRae gave Uproxx a glimpse into how she’s indulging the present as her life, fueled by Think Later, rapidly changes.
When announcing Think Later, you said, “For the first time in my life, I lived this year a little less with my head and a little more with my intuition.” What allowed you to do that?
I fell in and out of love. I turned 20. I started paying attention to what felt right in the moment rather than overthinking every decision I made. I used to overanalyze everything, even while I’ve always had a fifth sense. I realized, over the course of writing this album and living life, that trusting my gut is always the right choice — even if it means facing consequences later.
At the same time, there’s “Calgary,” which finds you in your head. I absolutely adore it because who can’t relate to carrying around the same insecurities and traumas as our childhood selves? The vulnerability balances out the balls-out confidence oozing from “Greedy.” You have always been so good at capturing these intense, polarizing, yet relatable emotions, but was there an emotion on this album that was more difficult for you to articulate than others?
Honestly, writing for this album came a lot more naturally because I was pulling from real experiences I had gone through. Both the experiences that led to the confident, empowered tracks like “Greedy” and the experiences that led to more contemplative, reflective, and nostalgic songs like “Calgary.” So many of my previous songs, especially those I wrote when I was first singing on YouTube, were from situations I imagined. The songs on this album are all so honest — no matter what the emotion was. I suppose, though, that writing sad songs has always felt easier because when I am sad, I find comfort in writing. Channeling my confident self needed to be a lot more intentional.
In “Calgary,” you sing about being 20 but still feeling 15, plus the hook in the title track of, “Live now, think later / I do it so well,” and the entire premise of “Plastic Palm Trees.” You have had a massive 2023, yet it feels like you are just on the cusp. Are you able to be present and let yourself be 20 years old with your whole life ahead of you and the whole world at your fingertips, or do you feel pressure from being in the pop game to act older, chase more “plastic palm trees,” so to speak, and live with a fast-forward mindset?
It’s funny because I always dreamed of leaving Calgary and moving to LA to pursue my dreams of music and dance. When I got to LA, I realized it’s not just a place of chasing your passions, but a place where a lot of people feel lonely. Over the last year or so, I’ve worked really hard to surround myself with good people that prioritize being present and celebrating what we are doing each day. I definitely have so much more I want to do, but I am trying really hard to not focus so much on the pressure.
The album is executive produced by Ryan Tedder. What did he pull out of you that nobody else had before?
When Ryan Tedder became my executive producer, he emerged as the glue I really had been seeking for my sophomore album. I felt my first album felt very all over the place musically; for Think Later, I really wanted cohesion. Ryan was able to take a step back and help me create a body of work that I felt incorporated the many genres and styles that shape me while still existing in one consistent world. He’s also just a musical genius.
I’m all in on this hockey aesthetic for Think Later. With the “Greedy” video, I love the locker room callback to Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets and “Damn Yankees.” What hockey term or aspect of hockey culture best describes your Think Later era?
My brother is a hockey player, and having grown up in Calgary, hockey has always been a part of my life. In creating the Think Later era, hockey just became a great way to pay homage to my roots and highlight the athleticism in my fashion, style, and approach to live performances.
Think Later is out now via RCA Records. Find more information here.