Addison Rae’s Debut ‘Addison’ Packs 12 Tracks Into 33 Minutes and Earns a 7/10

Addison Rae’s debut album, “Addison,” runs 12 tracks and 33 minutes. It is short, tight, and built for repeat plays, not filler. The record aims to move Rae from internet personality to pop artist, and it mostly gets there through sound and mood rather than lyrical weight.

New York Opens the Record

“New York” starts things at 2:32, a brisk mood-setter that establishes the album’s pace. It does not linger. That is the point — this record moves fast and expects the listener to keep up.

“Diet Pepsi” follows and is the clear highlight of the front half. At 2:49, it has the hooks and the confidence that the opener only hints at. “Money Is Everything” keeps the momentum at 2:03, the shortest full song on the tracklist, and it does not waste a second of it.

Aquamarine Through High Fashion

“Aquamarine” (2:43) slows the tempo slightly without losing the album’s throughline. Then comes “Lost & Found,” a 48-second interlude that functions as a palate cleanser rather than a song in its own right.

“High Fashion” (3:18) is where the album’s title makes the most sense. It is glossy, image-conscious, and built around a persona rather than a confession. That is not a knock. Rae is not pretending to bare her soul here, and the track is stronger for not trying.

Here is how the album’s best stretch stacks up:

1. “Diet Pepsi” — the sharpest hook on the record.
2. “High Fashion” — the clearest statement of persona.
3. “Times Like These” — the most fully realized song in the back half.

Summer Forever to Fame Is a Gun

“Summer Forever” (3:48) is the longest song so far and earns the extra length with a fuller arrangement. “In the Rain” (3:34) keeps pace with it, moodier but no less catchy.

“Fame Is a Gun” (3:03) is the most pointed title on the tracklist, and the song leans into that tension between visibility and control. It does not fully cash the check the title writes, but it is one of the more interesting ideas on the album.

Times Like These and the Closing Pair

“Times Like These” (3:53) is the album’s emotional peak. It is the longest proper song on the record and uses that space well, building rather than repeating.

“Life’s No Fun Through Clear Waters,” another short interlude at 0:57, sets up the closer without overstaying.

“Headphones On” closes the album at 4:00, the longest track on the record. It is a fitting finish — expansive, unhurried, and confident that the listener has stayed the whole way through.

The two interludes, “Lost & Found” and “Life’s No Fun Through Clear Waters,” do real structural work. Neither asks to be judged as a full song. They exist to give the album breathing room between its more developed tracks, and at under a minute each, they never wear out their welcome.

What “Addison” does well is pacing. Twelve tracks in 33 minutes means nothing drags. The shortest songs are placed exactly where they need to be, and the two longest — “Times Like These” and “Headphones On” — are saved for the stretch where the album has earned the extra runtime.

What it does not do is take many risks with subject matter. The lyrics stay close to familiar pop territory: fame, image, romance, identity. Rae is not writing anything that reinvents the genre. But the production and sequencing carry the record further than the words alone would.

This is a debut that knows its own strengths. It does not try to be an epic statement. It is a pop album that wants to be played start to finish in half an hour, and it succeeds at that specific, modest goal.

The best evidence of the album’s discipline is its restraint with interludes and its willingness to let “Times Like These” and “Headphones On” stretch out only once the groundwork is laid.

“Addison” is not a flawless debut, but it is a confident one. The sequencing is smart, the singles (“Diet Pepsi,” “High Fashion”) are genuinely strong, and the album never asks for more of the listener’s time than it has earned.

Addison Rae · album review · debut record · Diet Pepsi · pop album