Chappell Roan confronts modern issues with huge pop smashes on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

It’s a little cliché at this point: listening to a musician who seemingly ‘knows exactly how you feel,’ whose lyrics seem ‘ripped out of your diary.’ Usually, these are reserved for more depressing artists, whose admissions of personal shortcomings we can see in ourselves as well (Mitski, Self Esteem, Taylor Swift to some extent). But with Chappell Roan, the feeling is different. It’s usually one of joy, silliness, exhilarating nature and the bursting energy that music can bring out.

Likely due to her age (25), the glittery pop newcomer writes in a way so in sync with the minds of young people, memes and inside jokes included. This could veer on the side of trite, heard-before or cringy, like a tweet that relies on humour from years ago, but Roan is always in control of the narrative. She writes about sex and relationships earnestly with humour, whether on a ballad like “Casual” (“Knee deep in the passenger seat and you’re eating me out, is it casual now?”, a horny hook-up anthem such as “Red Wine Supernova” (“Back in my house, I got a California King / Okay, maybe it’s a twin bed, and some roommates”) or even on “My Kink Is Karma,” a revenge-tinged breakup track. “It’s hot when you have a meltdown in the front of your house and you’re getting kicked out,” she admits of a former partner: “People say I’m jealous but my kink is karma.” A predecessor of Taylor Swift, if only she were this transgressive.

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is distinctly queer in two ways – the first being an honest admission of her own journey as a woman in the LGBTQ+ community, performing to fans in the same boat. Exuberant debut single “Pink Pony Club” takes place in a gay bar in West Hollywood, lamenting her Tennessee mother’s disapproval of where her life has taken. “Oh mama, I’m just having fun / On the stage in my heels,” she says, and elsewhere, has noted that the stage essence of Chappell Roan is basically just a drag persona. On “After Midnight”, too, she says, “I kinda wanna kiss your girlfriend if you don’t mind,” but there’s no straight girl acting it up here – like with MUNA, there’s no faking it with Roan.

The second queer influence is the notion of complete self-autonomy and reliance that comes with shrugging off men, demonstrated on the opener, “Femininomenon”. She complains that men aren’t able to give her the satisfaction she requires, whether it be through a good beat or good sex. “Ladies, you know what I mean, and you know what you need!” goes the call to action on the spoken-word bridge. On what has to be one of the top three best pop songs of the year, “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” compares a boyfriend’s averageness to his girl’s star quality, much like the marketing for the recent Barbie movie: “She’s everything, he’s just Ken”: “I’m through with all these hyper mega bummer boys like you,” she decides, and in a lyric that’s simple but which perfectly encapsulates how we’re punished for our desire and standards, she sings, “Not over dramatic / I know what I want.” Over a stomping beat that will have people looking up Roan’s tour dates to hear this song live, she sings, “I need a super graphic ultra modern girl like me.” Doesn’t everyone?

Mirroring the experience of one’s twenties, this album is also very horny. If the lyrics cited above aren’t enough to convince you, look no further than “HOTTOGO!” where Roan serves herself up on a platter, happy to be feasted upon and even relishing the opportunity to be lusted after. “What’s it gonna take to get your number!?” she asks in a crazed voice on the chorus, perfectly simulating the mind-bending obsession one can submit to in the presence of a hot person. “Naked In Manhattan” presents a situation that can be gleaned from the title, “After Midnight” is a sensual disco track about being a “freak in the club,” and “Guilty Pleasure” basks in the satisfaction about finding someone just as sexually oriented as Roan. “Oh my God, you are heaven sent,” she admits, “With your dirty mind, you’re perverted.”

Roan is a blazing tour-de-force on her debut album. She tackles every corner of human sexuality, psychology, desire, and lust, all on some of the hookiest choruses of this year. During some tracks she takes the time to slow it down, which sometimes hinders the album’s flow – as in the case with “Coffee” and another song whose odd analogy comparing love to a kaleidoscope seems offhand – but it shows she has the range. With some of its songs released as late as three years ago, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is a little lacking in vision and coherence, but this first glittery collection of pop songs from Chappell Roan drips in charisma and hedonistic pleasure. Let’s drop the ‘star in the making’ label – she’s already here.