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Photo: Ryan Clemens

Chappell Roan is looking to pop history with the release of her long-awaited debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Executive produced by Daniel Nigro (frequent collaborator of Olivia Rodrigo and Caroline Polachek) the record takes fans on a journey of this once-in-a-lifetime talent blossoming into her true self through the lens of a dazzling pop triumph. With tracks dating back to 2018, listeners experience the rebirth of Roan and the boundless possibilities of what it means to be a pop star. 

The story begins pre-pandemic, when Kayleigh Rose Amstutz conceived her artist project and signed to a label that would later drop her. Roan then blossomed into a DIY group effort, with collaborators that helped conceive a perfect visual world that propelled the music into place. A fanbase started to take shape with the popularity of “Pink Pony Club,” a gay bar anthem released in 2020, when kissing strangers in public was far from any conceivable reality. 

The revamp of Roan officially kicked off with the release of “Naked in Manhattan,” a song where the budding artist started to see herself as part of the queer community instead of a yearning onlooker. Fans picked up on the momentum of this singular voice and soon a small but mighty community was formed. With each live show and following single release, the universe of Roan expanded and welcomed more residents. “My Kink Is Karma” served pop perfection and piping hot revenge, “Femininomenon” reinvented the dictionary by embracing girlhood, “Casual” faced reality head-on while validating a dramatic emotional release, and the rest is history.

With the release of the gut-wrenching piano ballad “Kaleidoscope,” Roan explored the nuances of queer romances. The result of articulating these feelings was resounding appreciation and relatability from an audience that often feels misunderstood. “Red Wine Supernova” and “HOT TO GO!” concluded the pre-album singles era on a peppy note, exploding with energy and embracing the lively side of writing songs about the rising star's freshly embraced queer sensuality.

Building excitement for an album consisting of over 50% pre-released singles sounds impossible, but comes easy when you’re creating something as special as The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. With the release of the full project, fans have three fresh tracks and two previously performed live tracks to sink their teeth into. “After Midnight” is a funky love letter to club culture, celebrating the bliss that comes with staying out late, flirting, and connecting with strangers. It’s light and airy, with Roan’s ethereal vocals proposing activities that sound fun to her (which happens to include starting a bar fight). Then there’s “Coffee,” a devastatingly detailed ballad that brought crowds to tears when she premiered it at her 2022 shows. The track’s sentiment is difficult to articulate, making its success in doing so a gut punch of relatability.

“Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” captures the essence of Roan and the album as a whole. On the surface, it’s a female empowerment bop full of cunty lyricism and celebration of the other. For those who have been following her journey through the music and personal anecdotes shared on social media, it marks a shift in her self-expression. The track is quite literally a story of a girl deciding to stop dating boys, finally realizing they’ll never match her energy like a woman will. 

Roan’s raw vocal ability stuns in the new track “Picture You,” a prayer for requited love set to a nostalgic instrumental. In typical Roan fashion, the delivery of her emotions harbors more than what’s explicitly said. The album ends with “Guilty Pleasure,” a song that begins acoustically and transitions into a disco explosion, a switch-up that truly encapsulates the rising star's tastes, abilities, and all sides of her ever-evolving personality.

In The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Roan spills her heavy, complicated feelings on love and finally stepping into your identity, while simultaneously encouraging silliness, celebration, and adventure. The whirling accumulation of years of hard work, the fear of failure, pure passion, and embraced collaboration can be heard throughout the project, taking it to a sacred place of achievement. When artists touch listeners in more ways than simply writing good music, its rarity is felt by everyone involved. Chappell Roan is that special moment—almost fleeting but thankfully captured, and meant to land in the lap of those who have been searching all along.

Listen to The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess below: