There’s something audacious—almost radical—about the way Addison Rae leans into pop stardom on her latest single, “Headphones On.” It’s a deliberate, calculated move, but not in the sterile, PR-packaged way some might expect. Instead, Rae’s latest track feels like the sonic equivalent of finding yourself in the reflection of a store window—only this time, you stop and like what you see.
Set against the icy, surreal backdrop of Reykjavik, Iceland, the Mitch Ryan-directed video gives “Headphones On” its dreamy, disorienting context. Rae rides both a real horse and one of those coin-operated mechanical ones parked outside supermarkets, nodding not just to childhood nostalgia but to a knowing campiness. The aesthetic swings hard in the direction of the early 2000s—complete with chunky iPod Nano-style headphones—yet never feels like cosplay. It’s Rae reclaiming a pop culture moment on her own terms.
Musically, “Headphones On” slides comfortably into the lineage of Madonna’s Bedtime Stories, all breathy vocals and velvety synths. There’s a sensual stillness to the track, one that doesn’t demand attention with brute force but instead seduces you with texture. Where earlier tracks like “Diet Pepsi” and “High Fashion” played with form and flirtation, “Headphones On” doubles down on confidence. Rae isn’t chasing trends here—she’s chasing a feeling. And she’s catching it.
This isn’t the same Addison Rae who dropped “Obsessed” back in 2021, a track that was dismissed more for the idea of her making music than the music itself. The difference now is hard-won self-awareness. She’s not trying to prove she belongs—she just does. In a recent interview, Rae admitted that she had to mentally reset, to ask herself what it meant to actually deliver something she felt proud of. “How am I going to get to a place where on my own, I feel like I can do this?” she said. The answer, it seems, is unfolding in real-time.
There’s a seductive strangeness to Rae’s recent creative choices—half-pop fantasy, half-surreal fever dream—that makes “Headphones On” more than just another single. It’s a statement of artistic identity. A soft-spoken banger that doesn’t scream for your attention but earns it, nonetheless. And if this is the tone-setter for her upcoming June album, then we’re not just witnessing a reinvention. We’re witnessing someone finally tuning into the frequency of their own voice.
And that voice? It’s got range.
