Four singles in, here’s what we know about Addison Rae: She loves a good cigarette and a Britney or Madonna reference; She’s team Pepsi; Her fashion knows no bounds (thanks to the creative eye of her styling partner-in-crime, Dara); She’s funny, sultry, smart, and weird; And she continues to be one of the most captivating new pop stars to arrive in years.
Calling something a “vibe” has become almost meaningless today, but if any one artist’s music could actually be described this way, it’s Rae’s. Case in point: her brand-new song, “Headphones On,” which continues her streak of winning singles.
The track sees the TikTok-star-turned-pop-singer doing exactly what the title suggests—sticking in her (wired) earbuds and blocking out life’s troubles through her favorite escape: music.
While so many of today’s hits are overly diaristic, Rae’s offerings from her forthcoming debut have provided a refreshing deviation, as they capture feelings, rather than specific scenes or moments. She sings about discovering herself, spiritually and sexually, and she makes amorphous paeans to the art forms that shape her life, be it high fashion or music.
Any person who went through a moody teen phase can relate to Rae’s latest track, where she croons about all the ways in which she overcomes the negatives. “Guess I gotta accept the pain / Need a cigarette to make me feel better,” she says. “Every good thing comes my way / So I still get dolled up.”
When Rae first rose to fame thanks to her viral social media videos, she was often characterized as bubbly and openly positive. However, in “Headphones On,” she gives listeners a peek into the darker aspects of her life that aren’t typically front and center.
“Wish my mom and dad could have been in love / Guess some things weren’t meant to last forever,” she whispers, making a rare reference to her father’s infidelity and her parents’ subsequent divorce.
She also drops a note about her struggles with fame and identity, adding, “I compare my life to the new It girl / Jealousy’s a rip tide, it pulls me under.” These lines and the couplet about her parents form the sole verse in the song, which pops up like an unexpected ill feeling, one which Rae pushes away with the repeating chorus and pre-chorus. “You can’t fix what has already been broken / You just have to surrender to the moment,” she repeats to herself like a chant.
In the corresponding video, directed by Mitch Ryan, Rae lets her hair down in the form of a neon pink wig, which calls to mind peculiar characters like Scott Pilgrim’s Ramona Flowers and Stephanie from Nickelodeon’s Lazy Town. As she rides a mechanical horse in front of a convenience store, Rae envisions herself in Iceland, where she climbs aboard a majestic white stallion instead, channeling a figure from a fantasy novel. Rae imagines this reverie until the song comes to a close and she snaps back into reality. Then, she climbs off the machine and walks back into the convenience store.
Like other stars who have sung about turning to art to escape pain, perhaps it is Rae’s original rise to fame that makes her so relatable. Instead of getting her start on sets or stages, Rae found an audience by filming videos in her living room. Sure, we all put up somewhat of a front on social media, but there was only so much the Louisiana native could manufacture. She’s used to being herself for fans and that’s what makes her songs come across as so honest. Who amongst us hasn’t put on our headphones and imagined being somewhere completely different, hoping to forget everything else?
If anything, Rae’s providing us with the perfect soundtrack for when we need to escape the troubles of the real world. Excuse me while I grab my wired earbuds.
