‘Addison’ (2025), a review

Put your headphones on.

I think Addison Rae might be the perfect “alt” pop star.

That is neither a dig or a compliment.

For years, the primary piece of critique for those alt-pop singers that stood just outside the mainstream was that they weren’t authentic. That people like Lana Del Rey, Charli xcx, Marina and her diamonds, that slut pop lady, and even Lorde, were and are putting on a persona to justify their slightly-off music. This generation of girls outside the mainstream were all “posers”.

Well, it’s time for Addison Rae to join pop’s middle class with an album that feels completely analogous to where she started. A record of very good but extremely anonymous music that I enjoy a lot, but feel disconnected from. Music I will listen to - this is a positive review - but don’t necessarily think rises above its parts.

The singles run has been fantastic. ‘Diet Pepsi’ was a Lana-esque dreamy pop moment, ‘Aquamarine’ spoke to late-1990s electronic pop ala Madonna and Kylie Minogue, ‘High Fashion’ evoked FKA Twigs and Tinashe going for Britney, ‘Headphones On’ was a shadow of ‘Bedtime Stories’ era Madonna working with Bjork, and ‘Fame is a Gun’ was a 2000’s meta-pop ala Lady Gaga. All of this is very sophisticated and reflects an ambition tied to these myriad of references. Returning to her debut EP ‘AR’ (2023), I don’t think either collection of songs are reflective of any greater truth. Much like her public appearances in ridiculous outfits while squeaking into a microphone, this record feels like a fun experiment.

But is it a successful one?

From the opening track ‘New York’, the production sounds great. Vibey, trance beats play throughout the album and feel more important than the lyrics and vocals. You are immersed in a sonic landscape distinct from a current pop landscape that still waffles between ‘Say So’ knock offs and whatever synth-country nonsense Sabrina Carpenter is playing around with (her latest single is a pretty mediocre example of this). Also, I guess Tate McRae is a country star too now.

Producers Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjärd have a firm grasp on the ‘Ray of Light’ (1998) sound that permeates the record, and it is refreshing after last year’s avalanche of often non-descript pop records. But there are…issues. Or at least, problems on my end.

To be blunt, Addison Rae is not a natural singer. Her voice is thin, shouty, and bland. Multitracking is used throughout to give the breathy moans that characterise her performance here some weight, mostly forgoing the shouty quality of ‘AR’. In many ways, this is the same transition that Selena Gomez took between her albums last decade. The goal is to collapse into the mix, rather than to stand atop. Tracks like ‘In The Rain’ or ‘Headphones On’ are probably the most successful in that regard, while something like ‘Money is Everything’ sounds very bad in sections.

The overall vocal production sounds better than ‘AR’, but there are moments where she gets lost in the mix. Which is fine in certain contexts, but makes the album as a whole sound thin and airy. There is clear inspiration from Britney Spears, particularly with tracks like ‘Aquamarine’ and ‘Summer Forever’, but Britney’s voice has always had some heft behind it. There’s a throaty quality to her vocals and an agility throughout her range, even as it became fractured through misuse and bad habits, that made it compelling. Rae’s version of this style lacks bass.

In regards to a broader issue, if the album is defined by anything, it’s the references. The Madonna and the Britney and the Kylie and the Gaga. A moodboard could be quickly drawn together for any of these tracks. There’s a languid quality to the whole record that reminds me of ‘In The Zone’ (2003).

‘Money is Everything’ is probably the closest thing to a real clunker on the record. It’s been mixed specifically to drown her out, which means there are points you’re straining to hear her at all. The verses are unpleasant to listen to, and the shouty chorus irritated me. I can see it growing on me, because the melody on the chorus is catchy, but it lacks the refinement of other tracks. The fact it is followed by ‘Aquamarine’ shows a serious lack of thought in regards to sequencing. If you like one, you’re probably not going to enjoy the other.

By contrast, ‘Times Like This’ is lovely. A beautiful tribute to youthful instability, it is also maybe the most obvious Madonna soundalike. There is something to be said in how the music gets better when she sticks to her moodboard.

Maybe I’m being unfair to Rae, who is clearly attempting to build a brand in the same way her mentor Charli xcx was able to through the 2010s. People forget how hard that is. Kim Petras spent a decade doing it, to increasingly embarrassing results. This is her entrance into the mainstream, to hopefully be followed by increasingly more honest and provocative material. Most pop stars start out as pale imitations of other artists, and then develop their own sound and/or persona. Or at least, let their references splinter off into a million different ideas.

But this is not her first toe into music.

Returning to ‘AR’, she spent years playing around with demos and imitating other artists. That EP and the surrounding unreleased music represent almost three years (maybe more) of experimentation. ‘Addison’ is a refinement of what her persona is meant to be. But that persona is still very close to the people she is emulating. FKA Twigs also released an album heavily inspired by ‘Ray of Light’ this year. ‘Eusexua’ never felt burdened by it’s own references.

There are other album-specific things I don’t love. The use of interludes feels like a limp attempt to make the record feel more important than it is. They also just don’t add anything to the flow of the album that couldn’t have been achieved by a slightly more deliberate mix. I’m also not convinced ‘Diet Pepsi’ belongs on here at all - it sits awkwardly at track two and does not sound like anything else on the record. But these issues with sequencing and flow are not major handicaps to enjoying the record.

I’d probably feel the disconnect much less if Rae hadn’t been pushed at me from all angles this year. Despite a limited amount of success on the charts, it feels like she’s gotten an incredibly strong push to the mainstream. Regular interviews and paid tweets (which are a staple of promo) have been in my face for months now. Whereas the groundswell of interest in ‘I got it bad’ in 2023 felt organic, this all feels decidedly bought. I can’t prove anything, but clearly people feel smothered by her presence. If not, then they wouldn’t be calling her inauthentic. They wouldn’t even know.

Despite my outlined critiques, the album sounds fine. Good, even. This is not a failed project, and I’d recommend any of the singles to those they interest. If you’re somebody who loves any of the other artists referenced in this review, the album offers a few gems.

I wish I liked it more than I do.

‘Addison’ represent a lot of ideas that cumulatively sound like a young woman playing dress up, which is also how her onstage persona looks. Maybe this is the real Addison Rae? Somebody with no real identity as of yet, who had decided to lean into the anonymity of pop music. If so, I wish that was reflected more in the music. As it stands, she sounds overwhelmed.

I’m reminded of when Grace Jones called Lady Gaga soulless, but I don’t think that is an accurate assessment here. It’s just not quite her soul yet. If this is the music she wants to make, then I hope she is able to find her footing better in the future.

I’ll just have to keep my headphones on.