Album Review: Addison by Addison Rae

by Salvatore Guimaraes

Genre: Pop/Alternative

Released June 6, 2025 'Addison' album cover, photographed by Ethan James Green

It was too good to be true that bona-fide overnight sensation Addison Rae could successfully transition from influencer to popstar, and yet Addison has disproven the likes of many. However, this metamorphosis was not the cleanest, not even close. In fact, Addison was not encouraged to be a pop star and as her debut would show to prove, the people did not like change. The story of ‘Addison’ has a lot to do with going against the grain, and defying narratives laid out for you. The singer’s claim to fame began in the late 2010’s due to Tik-Tok’s widespread craze around the entire world. Rae can easily be cited as one of the pioneers of the app’s success and an indicator for what was viral, and what wasn’t. Long before the studio days, Rae was living in a content house where 15-second dances were quickly changing her life, opening doors, and building a brand. Nonetheless, there was always a sense of ambition that simmered within the singer, a theme that runs hot across the 13-track debut record, the self-titled “Addison”and especially on the mantra of hit, "Fame Is a Gun". Laid out before us now is a singer who has toured alongside Lana Del Rey, graced the Coachella stage, and snagged herself a GRAMMY nomination for “Best New Artist”—an accolade shared alongside former housemate and former content creator, Alex Warren—, however Addison’s story is more complicated than that, and not tastefully executed either. Despite the mainstream success that Addison has arguably always had, when it came to stepping into the identity of an artist, it was widely perceived that Addison was out of her depth. As some may—hilariously—recall, Addison released her debut single “Obsessed” in 2021. It came as a total unwelcome surprise, and what many interpreted as a jab at another Beverly-Hills Boyfriend gone wrong. The song was met with underwhelming reception, and even worse, gave us no insight into who Addison Rae was behind the 15-second dances ,ultimately considered a failure. Yet, when it comes to pop music, there will always be corners of the internet that nurture even the most unconventional pieces of media, and Addison was one of them. There was this simmering buzz that developed over the past couple of years, as scrapped demos of the LA-influencer began to leak, and the multi-hyphenate gladly played into the discourse. The summer of ’23, the 5-track EP, “AR” was released, featuring a Charli XCX collab and “Nothing On (But The Radio), which scholars of pop culture called back to as a long-lost archive from Gaga’s Born This Way days. Nonetheless, like its predecessor of a release, “AR” still was not what Addison needed to break into the mainstream or create a sustainable spot for herself in the music world. So, when did the shift happen? When did Addison Rae pivot from “cringe and basic” to “cutting edge and bold”? From a distance, it would most notably be when lead single of the record, “Diet Pepsi” was released. Its lush vocals, masterful use of reverb, and noir-esque visuals began to paint a new picture, that Addison Rae might be someone worth listening to. But, I believe the breakthrough can be traced back to somewhere earlier than “Diet Pepsi” and once-more a moment of virality attributed to Tik-Tok. As the rollout of the smash-hit “brat” was unfolding for Charli XCX the singer was subsequently releasing

remixes of the tracks, all of which would foreshadow the eventual release of the collaborative continuation of the brat-era: “Brat and it’s the completely different but still brat.” Of the remixes, Addison was placed on a flipped version of “Von Dutch” alongside A.G. Cook which featured her downright screaming at the top of her lungs; it would be this moment that Addison’s evolution began. A highly unconventional moment, and almost satirical one, but it was when Charli XCX teased the collab that for once, people genuinely liked what Addison was doing—and welcomed it. When it came to how the singer was perceived, she was a bit of an anomaly because her multitudes made others uncomfortable. For the shiny-sparkly valley girl who was the cover girl for all things popular, she was considered taboo to even being associated next to places of less popularity, or even things that might be considered weird. It was greatly frowned upon from fans of electronic  and club music when the singer was seen in a SOPHIE sweatshirt or when she answered in an interview that she adores Arca. She wasn’t sticking to the status quo. Why wasn’t the trendy influencer listening to Top 40? And more importantly, why wasn’t she making it. Addison was filled with a nuance that challenged those who mistakenly perceived her, and the release of her debut record would shatter those expectations. To put it quite frankly, the narrative has always felt like Addison was the popular girl that disproved the misconception that all shiny-popular girls are plastic. Instead she contained an edge to her that costed her nothing, as it deterred no one. The reception being that it created this sense of almost having imposter syndrome for someone else—foolishly that is, I mean, since when did we ever know exactly who any celebrity was through a screen? And perhaps it was this perception that transgressed into the album rollout of ‘Addison’. She wasn’t trying to fit in alongside the pop-darlings of Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, or Olivia Dean, her goal was much more different. Addison began gaining traction alongside listeners of FKA Twigs, Caroline Polachek, Bjork, and Charli XCX, but was still met with some pushback. If you’re too basic for alternative, but too weird for pop, where does that leave you? Addison Rae, and the bulk of the record exists as an anomaly of sorts, and is metamorphic in nature. ‘Addison’ doesn’t look to be one thing, it doesn’t have a target audience, it’s a passion project filled with experimentation, and as I see it, it’s Addison’s way of doing her own thing and inviting you to watch—if that’s your kind of thing. Opening with the brash hyper-pop of “New York” we immediately get introduced to the ambition and grit that stirs inside of Rae, and we once more tap into these feelings on the affirmative, “Money is Everything” where Addison relishes in her lavish life and fantasizes of rolling one up with A-listers such as Gaga & Lana. If there one thing that this record does exceptionally—and refreshingly in this current climate—it is that it embellishes in its hyper-fem aesthetics without paying mind to a love interest—and especially a man. When we look at “Summer Forever” "Times Like These" and “Diet Pepsi” that reflect on themes of love and relationships, they do so without ever truly focusing on the other party. It’s that level of introspection that exudes confidence, because it draws attention more on how we behave in relationships. How we change and develop through being with another person—or even losing them—it’s a developmental process of sorts through these moments; we’re brought closer to ourselves. All of which makes this an interesting mindset for the starlet to utilize when being so widely covered for her love life and her name consistently being attached to others, ‘Addison’ finds the singer completely isolated. It’s this very idea that sits with some of the most triumphant moments on the record, all of which fall near the end of the record on the B-Side, “High Fashion”, “In the Rain”, and closer “Headphones On”. For instance, “In the Rain”—which stylistically echoes the Britney Blackout era cut, “Why Should I Be Sad?”—dives into how Addison sheds her weaknesses, her heartache, as her problems are turned to product, and she doesn’t care how you feel about it, “Don’t want to be sad, God, it feels like a waste of time//Maybe it’s fake, but I don’t care//You don’t deserve my heart, and guess what? I don’t owe it to you//If you’re offended, say a prayer.” She doesn’t care to entertain the narratives created about her, she doesn’t mind being misunderstood, the goal was never to be well received, the goal was to create. The record was produced with an all-female team. Her two producers Elvira Anderfjärd and Luka Kloser being the only collaborators on the project, helps to show that the only way this record could’ve came to be is through being with a team of people who truly know you. Please don’t be mistaken, it’s not Addison’s job to get you to like her, let alone understand this, that was made very clear on her braggadocious—and bratty—feature with Charli XCX, but it’s her purpose to tell her story, and that’s exactly what this record does. Reintroduction, or just finally getting to know the person behind the persona? It's up to your interpretation, but as for what it looks, we got a front row seat for a pop-phenom in the making.

Addison for the "Aquamarine" music video, directed by Sean Price Williams