After Labor Day, there are just so many holidays on the calendar: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas… and Chappell Roan Album Release Day (can you say “CR’ARD”?).
The alt-pop rhinestone cowgirl comet from Missouri, who in a few years (maybe sooner, like now) will likely be recognized as one of our generation’s greatest and most thrilling songwriters, has finally released her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. It hits the streams today (September 22) via Amusement/Island Records.
And at this point, it’s pretty much a greatest hits compilation. Not a bad look for a debut.
We dub it a greatest hits record because it’s exactly that, as the album pulls together Roan’s breathtaking series of ultra-magnetic, sex-positive, queer-highlighted singles since 2020 — including the theatrical “Red Wine Supernova,” rambunctious “Pink Pony Club,” and hook-up culture yearner “Casual.” Toss in neon-glow tracks like “Kaleidoscope,” “Naked In Manhattan,” and tough-to-spell, easy-to-say “Femininomenon,” and the whole thing — plus last month’s cheery “HOT TO GO” and all the new bops we’ve yet to hear — shapes up to one hell of a debut LP.
“After four years in the making comes my 14-song album holding stories of unearthing my true self and fearlessly embracing queerness,” says Roan. “My whole project is a rebellion to how I was raised. I want what I never had — a safe place to dress, sing, and dance however you want to, and be who you truly are. I think the album encapsulates the whole process of birthing a new me and then ultimately abandoning it. That push and pull is a perfect example of me obsessing over my dream but despising it at the same time. The music made me evolve. With the contrast of my Midwestern upbringing and living in one of the biggest cities in the U.S., The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess mirrors the rollercoaster of becoming the popstar I always wanted to be.”
And the one we absolutely need right now.
Roan is taking the record on the road this fall, and she plays a sold-out House of Blues in Boston on October 15. Fire up The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess via Spotify, and scan her upcoming dates, gaze upon the album trailer video, and bow down to our new alt-pop queen. It’s calendar-worthy.
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