While I have long been a Chappell Roan fan, she dominated my listening patterns over the past few months. While traveling to my summer internship on New Jersey Transit into Penn Station bright and early, her limited, yet complex, discography made the exhausting commute fly by. It is easy to say I was over the moon when she announced her debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” would be released on Sept. 22, 2023.
When the album was released, my roommate and I cranked the television volume in our living room all the way up and pressed play. It opens with the track “Femininomenon,” which encapsulates a major theme of Roan’s music — frustration with romantic partners, specifically men, falling short. The artist encourages women to recognize their worth and not fall into complacency while denying themselves the romantic satisfaction they deserve. The next track, “Red Wine Supernova,” was released before the official album release, and it still stands as one of my favorite songs. The musicality and melody align closely with Roan’s traditional style. The song discusses queer female desire through the lyrics and background ad libbing. When discussing the track, she wanted to make room for queer women in the music industry through her depictions of traditionally taboo themes.
Roan shifts the mood with the tracks “Coffee” and “Casual.” The tempos slow significantly, begging the listener to sit through the feelings of romantic disappointment and unrequited love with Roan. I am a major proponent of a sad song infiltrating a highly animated album to give depth to the artist and their work. These two tracks, while rare for Roan, who is known for her flashy musicality, let me into the complexity of her mind and experiences. “Coffee” is composed of lyrics such as, “Here come the excuses that fuel the illusions / But I’d rather feel something than nothing at all.” I believe everyone is familiar with putting themselves in situations simply to feel, even if the desired feeling will only cause harm. Roan is extremely capable of allowing her fans to see and hear themselves in what she produces — a comforting quality to have as an artist.
Track nine, “Picture You,” is home to the most heart-wrenching and relatable lyrics on the album. The best part about this song is the variety of possible interpretations and feelings it can evoke in the listener. Roan begins by setting a romantic scene where she encourages an assumed lover to “draw the blinds [and] light every candle.” However, as she continues, we learn that she vividly pictures this (absent) desired lover with her. She asks this imagined person a string of questions, including, “Do you picture me like I picture you? / Am I in the frame from your point of view? / Do you feel the same?” Roan delays revealing her desperation for connection until a few seconds into the song, which adds to her unrequited, intense yearning. The song wraps with a beautiful bridge, where she harmonizes abstract vocables carrying vivid pain.
“The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” is comprised of clear highs and lows for Roan. The range of emotions and experiences depicted in the piece of work pay ode to the title. While many of her songs veered off course from her traditional sound, I appreciated watching Roan expand her musical capabilities. When the album was released, Roan stated via her Instagram post, “This album is for the 10-year-old girl from the Midwest who never thought she could be herself. The girl who felt shame from the day she turned 13 for having a deeper love for her girl best friend that was unlike anything she felt for boys. For the girl who was told to be proper and sweet and ladylike, but simply would never be.” Reading the heartfelt dedication to her younger self before listening to “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” added a beautiful layer to the production. I hope after reading you are open to grasping the weight of the album that Roan intended to get across.
