The Rise and Fenomenon of a Midwest Princess
An Album Review
I’m a sophomore in college and just got picked up from LaGuardia for Spring Break. After the mayhem of locating my sister and her roommate, I finally settled myself in the car between cardboard boxes of art supplies and their foster dog, Pearl. A piano riff echoed off of the banged up speakers in the backseat of the car as I looked out the windows. I was met with a buttery soft voice, crooning about my hometown and the freedom she felt there. This was “Pink Pony Club.” I asked my sister who it was, she said “Chappell Roan,” and I knew, immediately, that a star had been born.
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess conveys the complicated and fun mess that is moving away from home, being queer, and just generally trying to understand how to be a functioning person in your twenties. Who better to guide us than pop princess, Chappell Roan. Hailing from Missouri, Roan’s career hit a block in 2020; she released her hit single, “Pink Pony Club,” one month into the pandemic. Roan returned from Los Angeles to her home in the Missouri, unsure of where the next few years would take her. Her collaborator, Dan Nigro, rose to fame with the release of Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR in 2021, leaving Roan a bit on her own. She didn’t let these roadblocks stop her.
Label-less, she continued to write and release other singles that have become mainstays on the album, such as “Naked in Manhattan,” “My Kink is Karma,” and my personal favorite, “Casual.” Throughout the building of this album, the singer supported Olivia Rodrigo on her Sour Tour as well as FLETCHER on her Girl of my Dreams Tour. She also had her own headline tour, Naked in North America Tour. Roan announced her album as well as another headline tour for 2023, The Midwest Princess Tour, selling out cities before she even released the album. By the time Roan put out her debut album in September of 2023, nine of fourteen songs had been released over the course of three years, and she had sold out multiple cities across the US and Europe. As of today (August 2024), Chappell Roan has continued to break records, drawing the largest Lollapalooza crowd of all time.1 As a long time fan of Roan, the release of Rise and Fall was incredibly exciting, finally getting to see the final vision of Roan’s album, and for newer fans, this album was an exciting reveal of some of her best material.
By design, the album takes listeners through the fickleness of life, building listeners up with hot, sweaty, scream-along pop songs and then providing a come down with her more intimate and precious, pared down songs. Roan begins powerfully with “Femininomenon.” This is a brilliant opening song for a few reasons; Roan has artfully given listeners a taste of everything this album holds. Playful lines like “Um can you play this song with a fucking beat?” and “get it hot like Papa John” are the kind of lyrical antics Roan gets up to throughout the whole rest of the album.2 Musically, this song is insane. Beginning with flourishing strings, the verse launches into what seems like could be a ballad, but a motorcycle revving and synths are suddenly thrown at us. Thematically, “Femininomenon” hits each beat of the album flawlessly. It touches on Roan’s queer identity, the ups and downs of finding yourself and the shitty people you have to interact with along the way, and most simply, having a fun song to dance to. The album continues with “Red Wine Supernova” and “After Midnight,” which follow in “Femininomenon’s” footsteps with kitschy “so bad they’re good, so dumb they’re smart”3 lyrics: “I heard you like magic, I’ve got a wand and a rabbit!”4 …Brilliant!
Roan then slows things down with “Coffee” and “Casual,” demonstrating her ease at oscillating between upbeat, quintessentially “pop” songs, and slower, soulful ballads which showcase her gorgeous range. “Coffee” is a slowed down ballad that follows Roan declaring she can only meet an ex for coffee, “cause if we have wine, you'll say that you want me, I know that's a lie…Nowhere else is safe, every place leads back to your place.”5 This song demonstrates Roan’s ability to paint the scene for her listeners.
The coveted fifth song, my favorite song on her album, and perhaps one of my favorite songs of all time, is “Casual.” What to say about this song…Hmmm…Finally, a song for the piners, the “chill” girls, the ones who settle for the lowest of the low, the ones who care too much. “Casual” is the anti-situationship propaganda we need more of in the world! Not only does Roan describe a relationship so many of us have experienced before, she is able to capture the nuances of the escalation of these experiences through the melody of the song. The bridge never returns to the chorus of the song, allowing Roan the physical and emotional space to really explore the horrors of being in between dating and not. I love this song.
After a brief recess from dancing, we return to her hyper-synth-pop tunes with “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl,” “HOT TO GO!,” and “My Kink is Karma.” After seeing Chappell Roan open for Olivia Rodrigo in March, I can confirm that these are some of the most fun songs to dance to, even from the second to last row of the Nationwide Arena. “Super Graphic” is a fabulous homage to 80s synth pop that feels like the heart of this album. It’s fun, sexy, and self assured. “HOT TO GO!” is a “cheerleader” style song about wanting someone and “My Kink is Karma” is a breakup song about how great it feels to see your ex doing bad; though contrasting in emotional intent, the two align in attitude and the feelings they evoke.
Yet again we move into a slower portion of the album with “Picture You” and “Kaleidoscope.” “Picture You” is another song that is one of my favorites on the album because of its simplicity. Throughout the album, Roan throws synths and chants and motorcycle noises at listeners, which, don't get me wrong, are amazing. However, her stripped down songs like this one and “Kaleidoscope,” which allow her voice and lyrics to be the main attraction, are so wonderful.
Next are “Pink Pony Club” and “Naked in Manhattan,” the first two songs of hers that I ever listened to. Both authentically explore the beginning feelings of figuring out one's identity, specifically one's queer identity. “Pink Pony Club” is a beautiful homage to Roan’s love of Drag Queens, a community Roan is known for crediting and uplifting. For all her headline shows, rather than having an opening act, Roan hires local Drag Queens to perform before her show.6 At her Coachella set, Roan introduced herself as “Your favorite artist’s favorite artist,” which was an homage to Sasha Colby, the legendary Drag Queen that introduced herself in a similar way on season 15 of Drag Race, “I am your favorite Drag Queen’s favorite Drag Queen.”7 This song honestly really gets me from time to time, as it perfectly encapsulates queer joy and the sacrifices made to seek it fully and honestly.
Naked in Manhattan expertly captures the butterflies of a first crush, which are demonstrated through lyrics like “I'd love if you knew you were on my mind, Constant like cicadas in the summertime” and “An inch away from more than just friends.”8 Her words exemplify the complicated, and confusing, yet giddy-with-excitement feeling that queer friendships can contain.
Roan brings the album to a close with the penultimate (and my favorite) song, “California.” This song is a love letter to the midwest, and the person that Roan is deep down. The glitz and the glam of moving to LA was not all it cracked up to be, and Roan admits that in this stunning song. If you don’t believe me, watch her Tiny Desk, it’s absolutely breathtaking.9 And finally, Roan closes out her debut album with the kind of clever bop she has proven time and time again that she has perfected, “Guilty Pleasure.” Faking us out with a slower beginning, Roan picks up the beat in the chorus, closing out the album with a perfectly crafted final song that combines all of the principals she has previously laid out.
Overall, I love this album. I know this is incredibly obvious if you have read this long, but I really believe firmly in the power of Chappell, which the singer has explained is a Drag Queen in her own right. She is a storyteller, and although I think that there are thematic stories that could be told through changing the chronology, like swapping the order of Casual and Coffee, (“Coffee” could be understood as what happened after the story behind Casual) or placing Naked in Manhattan, HOT TO GO!, and Guilty Pleasure closer together because of their narrative similarities, I believe the album is pretty flawless. Chappell Roan’s music is healing but not grueling, fun but not meaningless. She lets her fans step into a world we didn’t know was possible, and she does so honestly, leading with authenticity. I’d go so far to say that Chappell Roan is CoComelon for gay people; don’t believe me? Time magazine described CoComelon, the children’s YouTube music channel, as being bright and unfailingly kind; “there is no conflict on CoComelon.”10 I would argue the same is true for this album. Chappell Roan’s art, and the community she has created through it, encapsulates this same delightful and welcoming energy by displaying the fun, zany side of queer love. After three years of pining, Chappell Roan, please release another album immediately. “I want this like a cigarette, can we drag it out and never quit?”11 Your words, not mine.
This review has been edited for clarity since its original release on wkco919.org in March 2024 (moments before her meteoric rise to fame).
Asia Moore, “Chappell Roan’s performance reportedly breaks attendance record at Lollapalooza music fest,” LA Times, August 7, 2024. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2024-08-07/lollapalooza-chappell-roan-performance-breaks-festival-record.
“Chappell Roan – Femininomenon,” Genius, accessed April 1, 2024. https://genius.com/Chappell-roan-femininomenon-lyrics.
Olivia Horn, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” Pitchfork, September 27, 2023. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess/. And just because I quoted her it does not mean I agree with Pitchfork’s ranking…I fear it is egregiously low…just saying.
“Chappell Roan – Red Wine Supernova,” Genius, accessed April 1, 2024. https://genius.com/Chappell-roan-red-wine-supernova-lyrics.
“Chappell Roan – Coffee,” Genius, accessed April 1, 2024. https://genius.com/Chappell-roan-coffee-lyrics.
Sofia Andrade, “Queer Pop Powerhouse Chappell Roan Doesn’t Care If She’s Going To Hell” The Washington Post, October 14, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2023/10/14/chappell-roan-queer-pop/.
Stephen Daw, “Sasha Colby Lauds Chappell Roan for Supporting Drag Artists: ‘Goddess Sees Goddess,’” Billboard, July 18, 2024. https://www.billboard.com/culture/pride/sasha-colby-react-chappell-roan-reference-1235731901/.
“Chappell Roan – Naked in Manhattan,” Genius, accessed April 1, 2024. https://genius.com/Chappell-roan-naked-in-manhattan-lyrics.
Stephen Thompson, “Chappell Roan: Tiny Desk Concert,” NPR, March 21, 2024. https://www.npr.org/2024/03/21/1238815351/tiny-desk-concert-chappell-roan.
Alana Semuels, “How Cocomelon Became a Children’s Entertainment Juggernaut.” Time, March 16, 2022. https://time.com/6157797/cocomelon-success-children-entertainment/.
“Chappell Roan – Guilty Pleasure,” Genius, accessed April 1, 2024. https://genius.com/Chappell-roan-guilty-pleasure-lyrics.