We’re really doing this, huh? As much as I wanted to resist the pivot of Addison Rae from TikTok influencer who got famous for being a thirst trap to being an actual pop star beyond one releasing a handful of vanity singles, it makes sense that with culture on the brink of extinction, her ascent as one of its horsewoman is something of a timeline algorithm’s prophecy. Then again, your mind could rationalize this that there we’ve circle back to a point akin to the 2000s nascent influencer trajectory where Hilary Duff, Lindsey Lohan, and Paris Hilton all had musical moments, and we look back on that era now with cozier feelings. Lana Del Rey’s arrived with similar skepticism, and we praise her as an iconoclast today, and when even Charli XCX and Arca have each co-signed your venture into pop stardom, we just have to accept seeing where this ride goes. “Headphones On”, the latest single from Rae’s debut album, pays no attention to any of that noise. “Madonna Del Rey” would be a perfect descriptor of what style guides her sonic palette is painting with to craft her image, as she continues to collaborate with her own team-up of always-impeccable Swedes in Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjärd who swaddle the electronic ambience and trip-hop reflector of Ray of Light through Rae’s unserious sighs in mourning her parents’ divorce or her own fleeting “it girl” status. “Guess I gotta accept the pain / Need a cigarette to make me feel better,” she sings, emo as deep as the Gen-Z rebranding of Boy Smells’ romance copy. Sometimes you need to plug into something that plays it dumb if you want to survive the outside world at its own stupid games.

Directed by: Mitch Ryan

Addison Rae’s “Headphones On” single is available now on Columbia Records.