Tate McRae is queen of Australia’s albums chart for the first time, as So Close To What opens at #1.
The Canadian singer and songwriter’s third studio album opens atop the ARIA Chart, published Friday, February 28th, for her first leader on either main chart.
So Close To What is McRae’s third successive top 10 entry on the national albums tally, after I Used to Think I Could Fly peaked at #10 in 2022, and Think Later went to #2 in 2023. McRae’s hit single “Greedy” also missed out in 2023, peaking at #2.
McRae has a close bond with Australia. She’s dating The Kid Laroi and the pair cut a track, “I Know Love”, which is housed by So Close To What. “I Know Love” enters the ARIA Singles Chart at No. 17, for LAROI’s 11th top 20 hit. Also, McRae completed a national tour in November 2024, which saw her perform in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, and Melbourne, for a jaunt produced by Live Nation.
Three tracks from So Close To What rebound on the ARIA Singles Chart, led by “Sports Car”, which drives to a new high, up 25-9; “It’s OK I’m OK” re-enters at #37; and “2 Hands” bounces to #40.
McRae leads an all-north American, all-female top four on the ARIA Albums Chart, besting Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet (down 2-1), Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft (up 4-3), and SZA’s SOS (up 5-4), respectively.
Newcastle, NSW indie rockers Rum Jungle pour out a top 10 with Recency Bias. The Aussie outfit has enjoyed triple j support with Recency Bias, which starts at #9.
Another Novocastrian, Englishman Sam Fender cracks the top 20 with People Watching, his third studio effort. It’s new at #17 for a career best chart position in Australia. The singer, songwriter and guitarist reached #62 in 2019 with Hypersonic Missiles and #46 in 2021 with Seventeen Going Under, both of which led the Official UK Albums Chart.
Close behind is Australian singer and songwriter Ziggy Alberts with New Love, his sixth album. It’s new at #18. According to ARIA, Alberts’ peak position so far is #9 with 2018’s Laps Around The Sun. Rum Jungle and Ziggy Alberts are the only homegrown artists to impact the latest ARIA Top 50.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” returns to the top, up 3-1. Kendrick Lamar’s “Luther” holds at #2 while Lola Young’s former leader “Messy” completes the top 3, up 4-3.
With the exception of Laroi’s contribution to Tate McRae’s “I Know Love,” the latest singles chart is a poor harvest for Australian artists.
