I Used to Think I Could Fly

McRae told NME in 2021 that she analysed the "structures" of albums like Frank Ocean's Blonde (2016), Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019) and After Hours by the Weeknd (2020) as possible inspirations for the structure of her upcoming album.^[2] She explained to People in February 2022 that a number of her songs were "just [her] diary entries" and that when she has "ugly feelings" she writes them down.^[8]

McRae announced that she had finalized the track listing for the album and submitted it to her label on March 8, 2022,^[2] and she revealed the title and cover on April 1, 2022.^[9] After the album was originally set to have 12 tracks,^[8] McRae confirmed the inclusion of the track "What's Your Problem?" when the official track list was announced on April 11, 2022, bringing the total number of tracks up to 13.^[10]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.9/10[11]
Metacritic	75/100[12]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Clash	7/10[4]
DIY	[13]
The Independent	[14]
The Line of Best Fit	7/10[15]
Pitchfork	6.8/10[16]
Rolling Stone	[6]
The Telegraph	[17]

I Used to Think I Could Fly received generally positive reviews from critics, praising the production, lyrical content, McRae's vocal performance and maturity in content. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 75 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[12]

Ims Taylor of DIY wrote that McRae "pulls out all the emotional stops" on the album, calling her "confiding her deepest feelings in us [...] comfortingly universal". Taylor further complimented McRae's "lush" vocals and concluded that her "arsenal of jagged pop weapons is extensive, and can be expertly wielded when she wants".^[13] John Amen wrote in The Line of Best Fit that "While McRae's previous outings may have been more complexly assembled, her new songs are more immediately accessible". He went on to conclude, "The new album is, in essence, McRae's first major step in forging a distinct pop presence".^[15] Writing for The Independent, Roisin O'Connor found there to be "angst aplenty" on the album, stating that McRae "trades in the R&B and pop-punk sounds that were prevalent in the Noughties" while "emulating the hard-hitting lyrical truths of her Gen-Z peers, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo". O'Connor felt that McRae "sings like she's falling apart, but the quality of the album suggests she's got it together".^[14]

Brady Bickner-Wood from Pitchfork wrote that "even when she's singing about self-loathing, the 18-year old pop star and dancer exudes a swagger. Her full-length debut proves she's capable of transcending online virality".^[18]

• "?" is titled "Intro" on physical editions of the album.
• "What's Your Problem?" was not included on the original track list announcement and is not included on physical editions or digital pre-order uploads.^[19]
• "Don't Come Back" interpolates "Ride wit Me" (2001) performed by Nelly.^[20]

Musicians

• Tate McRae – lead vocals
• Alexander 23 – background vocals, drums, guitar (4, 9); synthesizer (4); bass, keyboards, percussion, programming (9)
• Greg Kurstin – bass, drums, keyboards, piano, synthesizer (5, 8); guitar (8)
• Sean Kennedy – guitar (9)
• David Cook – background vocals (13)

Technical