Put your headphones on for Addison Rae’s new song
Photo by Ben Carey
In a world of cookie-cutter pop stars, Addison Rae has found her place in a dream-pop landscape that feels entirely her own. Delivering hits like “Diet Pepsi,” “Aquamarine,” and “High Fashion” Rae has proved herself to be a force in the future of pop, powered by her individuality.
For fans, it is very easy to tell when an artist is being molded into someone they are not, but for Addison, this is not the case. The main draw to Rae is how true to herself both her sound and style are. She has been launched into the current “it” girl role because of her natural esoteria and whimsy, inspiring everyone to live like Addison.
Fresh off her Coachella debut, with a performance of her remixed single “Arcamarine”, Rae released her new single “Headphones On.”
A track laced with euphoria, you can't help but dance when you listen to it. With a back beat similar to that of early 2000s R&B-pop, “Headphones On” offers a sound Rae had yet to introduce to her audience, slowing down her usual party music.
Bringing a new identity to Rae’s catalog, “Headphones On” is her most honest writing thus far. She reflects on the very public split between her parents, the internal comparisons she makes between herself and others, and her need to fix the things around her, she sings that “jealousy's a riptide, [that] pulls [her] under.” Rae speaks of the desire to drown out the world with music — when she puts her headphones on, the world melts away.
In the music video for her new single, this very notion is displayed flawlessly. Addison gallops through scenes reminiscent of 2000’s cinema. With notes of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “The Science of Sleep,” Rae pulls viewers into an Icelandic dream world. When she puts her headphones on, she escapes into her idealized version of herself: with pink hair, riding horses on the beach, and listening to music.
“Headphones On” is Rae’s fourth single projected to be on her upcoming album. Her album release date was teased on her custom-printed underwear during her Coachella performance of “Arcamarine” with electro-pop artist Arca. Under her flowy see-through dress, she wore bright-pink underwear that read “June 6”, which fans believe to be a hint towards her debut album.
By Addison Farris
April 18, 2025