Music Review: Addison Rae's “Headphones On”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdFpzaM07i0

Addison Rae’s debut album, Addison, is quickly shaping up to be a defining moment in pop, with the 24 year-old constructing a world that feels both intoxicatingly familiar yet entirely fresh. 

Her latest single, “Headphones On,” released on April 18, is the fourth single released from her upcoming 12-track album, expected June 6. The song marks a bold declaration of her artistic intent and overall brand, setting the stage for an summertime album that promises to be as much mood as it is music.

The track is about self-soothing, surrendering to the moment, and using music as a refuge from life’s struggles. Rae’s vocals are soft and sultry. The chorus invites you to indulge in the escape music provides: “Guess I gotta accept the pain. Need a cigarette to make me feel better…So I put my headphones on. Listen to my favorite song.” The verses are raw and unpolished, speaking to her quiet heartaches: “Wish my mom and dad could’ve been in love. Guess some things aren’t meant to last forever…You can’t fix what has already broken. You just have to surrender to the moment.”

In the accompanying music video, set in an Icelandic grocery story, she mirrors the song’s message of music being a conduit between dream and reality. The film, with its blue tinge and grainy appearance, provides a nostalgic, early ‘90s feel. Rae, in a retro neon pink windbreaker, messy low bun, and jewel-adorned eyeshadow, works as a cashier. She steps out of the store, mounting a mechanical horse and slipping on a pair of Apple’s 2016 wired headphones, and the song begins. She then envisions herself with long, neon pink hair, riding a stately white horse on a foggy coastline as the chorus beats on. She snaps back to reality the second she removes her headphones, and returns to the supermarket — a stark, purposeful contrast that perfectly mirrors the dream-like, sexy escape the song offers. 

In “Headphones On,” Rae isn’t just making music, she’s crafting an entire mood: a lo-fi, high-class dreamscape.

This track sits perfectly within the resurgence of “recession pop” and the “messy pop revival” movement that has been reshaping pop music in recent years. 

Last summer, Charli XCX’s album brat ignited the cultural zeitgeist with its raw lyrics and chaotic, independent spirit, an aesthetic that Rae’s work aligns with. But while Charli embraced the bold and utterly unapologetic, Rae is leaning into sensuality, fashion, and an ethereal haze fueled by neon pink and cigarettes.

Rae’s sound and visuals are inspired by a collage of pop icons, blending Britney Spears’ early-2000s style, Kesha’s gritty glamour, Lady Gaga’s alien aloofness, and even Lorde’s understated surrealism. But Rae is carving out her own identity. Her work is tailored for a generation raised on Y2K nostalgia and yearning for the same disheveled glamor pop-icons that time offered. No one has delivered — so Rae did. 

In an era marked by political upheaval and cultural fatigue, the glossy perfect pop-star of yesteryear feels increasingly out of touch. Rae’s “Headphones On,” and other singles from Addison: “High Fashion,” “Aquamarine,” and “Diet Pepsi” represents the shift away from unattainable luxury and perfect choreography, embracing instead something rougher, rawer, abstract, yet undeniably feminine.

With the release of Addison still on the horizon, we can only expect the album to expand on this vibe, offering a subtle yet captivating soundtrack to our lives: never demanding, always present, and easy to lose ourselves in.