Addison Rae is 3/3 with “High Fashion”

Graphic by Kristen Lee

by Bennett Himmel

It’d almost be boring to rehash The Great Addison Rae Reinvention Of 2022. In 2021, Addison Rae released a boring single that everyone made fun of, then chronically online gay guys leaked some demos that were better, she befriended Charli XCX and Arca and bla bla bla bla bla. On paper, it all feels so contrived. It was only a matter of time before a TikTok starlet decided to make a left turn and dive headfirst into the niche. What makes Addison Rae fascinating is that she’s so fucking good at it. Over the last few months, Addison has been incessantly namedropping ‘90s Madonna deep cuts, referencing Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill! in music videos, and creating some of the most light, effervescent, sexy pop music I’ve heard since In The Zone, or even Ray Of Light. On the newest of these singles, Addison subverts expectations by releasing her strangest song to date. In the leadup to her currently untitled debut studio album, there hasn’t been a true banger. With the teaser to “High Fashion,” she prepared fans for a high camp romp through her closet. “I don’t need your drugs, I’d rather get high fashion!” flashed across the screen in candy pink text, before Rae stares a hole into the camera and does a hair flip. Because the chord progression is so bizarre, the song feels like it’s about to collapse in on itself. The prechorus (if you can call it that) is a reference to an underrated Lady Gaga deep cut from 2013. The lyrics can come off trite, sure. “You know I’m not an easy fuck, but when it comes to shoes I’ll be a slut” feels more primed for an Instagram caption than a song lyric, but she delivers it with an undeniable breathy confidence.

The song’s music video may be her best. Rae licks a plate of beignets clean (a reference to her Louisiana upbringing), getting powdered sugar all over her nose, before glamorously wiping away the residue.  Steering away from the gritty, decidedly indie Sean Price Williams art direction of her last two singles, the video for “High Fashion” is high-gloss and high-budget. Despite this, it all still comes off as effortlessly experimental, left-field, and downright bizarre. As Addison frantically dances around a burning field during the song’s bridge, an ad-lib in the song comes in: “I know how to make the hard things look really easy.” Damn right.