Stick to your convictions Tate McRae!
Today, Tate McRae changed the album art of her newest record. That sucks.
An update from February 27
Well, Tate changed her album cover back to the original the day after I published this. Oops. I still stand by my aversion to changing album covers at all, as I wrote below…
I’m not going to write a review of Canadian idol Tate McRae’s new album, “So Close To What.” Frankly, there’s not that much to say about it. It’s fine, and I’m sure the songs I don’t like will grow on me. Tate is good at delivering an ear worm.
What she’s not good at, apparently, is commitment. Today, only three days after the album was released, she changed the album’s cover.
Honestly, the original cover is a little confusing. Tate is sprawled on the floor while wistfully looking at a projection of side profile, or perhaps the projection represents her thoughts? It’s more likely that the artwork is just as meaningless as the title “So Close To What.” Reactions were missed, with at least one Twitter account declaring that Tate was headed straight to the Khia Asylum. I kind of like it! It’s generic. It’s pretty. It’s recognizable. It actually perfectly encapsulates the music within.
Anyway, as reported by PopBase, Tate updated the album on streaming platforms earlier today. The new cover shows Tate standing on a road and looking wistfully to the left, or something. Her shorts are shockingly short, and her hair looks great. It’s very… normal.
Another album with a normal cover was Tate’s “Think Later,” released in 2023. Notably, Tate is striking the exact same pose, except her hands are on her hips rather than crossed. The background and framing different, and the album title is displayed quite creatively on hockey pads, but the covers are otherwise uncannily similar.
I guess the question is: Why? Was the reaction to the original cover too mixed? If so, why wait until now, rather than changing the cover ahead of time like Megan Thee Stallion. Is this a kind of marketing gimmick to draw up more discussion of the album? Did Tate just get cold feet about the previous cover and change it to an outtake?
It’s probably the latter.
Also, how will this affect physical releases of the album? Her website still hasn’t been updated, and I saw vinyls with the original cover for sale at Newbury Comics yesterday. Maybe the original cover will be a collector’s edition among Tate McRae fans in 50 years. Imagine that.
In other new music
I cannot stop listening to “Choke Enough” by Oklou, especially the song “Thank You for Recording.” The French artist’s deput album is an exploration of ambient pop music, in a way that I don’t usually like, but it’s substantial enough that you can really bite your teeth into each song. “Thank You for Recording” seems to be about coping with modernity and her desire not to stress about world events, but I’m honestly still wrapping my head around it. What I do know is that it’s great. Check it out below or stream it here.