After wrapping up her sophomore EP in December, rising pop singer-songwriter Cate Tomlinson is stepping back into the spotlight with “He’s Not You,” a breezy yet brutally honest reflection on being with someone new while still hung up on someone from the past. Known for blending pop with soul and rock influences, the 22-year-old San Francisco native (now based in Los Angeles) leans into a more electro-pop direction here, but keeps her sharp storytelling front and center.
The track opens with a bubbly, synth-forward beat that feels light and effortless–almost deceptively so, given the emotional weight behind the lyrics. A calm, jazzy guitar melody runs underneath, giving the track a laid-back warmth that contrasts nicely with the lyrical tension. The production is clean and minimal, letting Cate’s voice and words take the lead. That balance between sweetness and sadness is what gives “He’s Not You” its pull.
Lyrically, the song captures a specific kind of emotional limbo of being with someone who checks every box, as Tomlinson says, but still feeling empty because they’re not the person you really want. It’s a familiar idea (think Katy Perry’s “Thinking of You” or Sabrina Carpenter’s “Slim Pickins”), but Cate makes it feel fresh by owning her feelings without apology. “He’ll be fine finding out about it, it’s a waste of his time getting down about it / It’s nobody’s fault that he’s not you,” she sings with a mix of guilt and clarity.
There’s something admirable about how direct the song is. Cate doesn’t try to justify or explain away her feelings, she just lays them out. The result is a song that feels emotionally grounded without being overly dramatic. It’s pop with substance, written for anyone who’s ever tried to move on too soon and found themselves comparing every new connection to the one that still lingers in the back of their mind.
