On Sept. 22, 2023, Chappell Roan released her debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.” The album did not appear on any major charts, debuting with numbers that would be considered a “flop” in the world of modern day music and chart watching. Now, a year later, the album is third on the Billboard 200, spending its 25th week on the chart, a direct effect of the rise of Chappell Roan.
The rise of Chappell Roan began at the beginning of 2024, but the star really hit her stride after the release of her most recent single, “Good Luck, Babe!” and her 2024 Coachella performance. Since then, she’s been unstoppable. With her current success, many people, including myself, went back to listen to “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” and let me just say, it’s so good.
“The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” has a track list of 14 songs with a runtime of 49 minutes. If you fed into the Chappell Roan hype over the summer, you’ve probably heard a handful of songs off the album, like “Pink Pony Club,” “Red Wine Supernova,” “Casual,” “Femininomenon,” and “HOT TO GO!” all of which I love, but won’t be highlighting in this review. Roan has so many other great songs on this album that deserve to be as popular, if not more popular, than those listed above.
Roan is mostly known for her fun, energetic songs, like the aforementioned “Red Wine Supernova” and “HOT TO GO!” but one of her more underrated high-energy songs is “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl.” The song opens with Roan speaking over a funky techno-like beat that has the listener anticipating the eventual beat drop. The structure of the song is reminiscent of Lady Gaga during her “The Fame Monster” era, which makes sense as Roan cited Gaga as inspiration for this song. On this song Roan spends her time singing about men no longer being for her and how she needs a super graphic ultra modern girl, like herself, to truly be satisfied. Other songs that should be getting more love are “After Midnight” and “Naked in Manhattan.” If I had one word to describe these songs it would be sexy, which aligns with most of Roan’s songs. Both revolve around Roan simply wanting to have a fun night, the latter specifically focusing on her first sexual experience with a woman. They both have an ‘80s type groove to it, making them great songs to dance to, and Roan’s voice takes a softer, sultry route opposed to the hard hitting belts we’re used to hearing.
While best known for her upbeat pop songs, Roan has a small selection of ballads that not only showcase her vocal ability, but also her writing chops. “California” is one of my favorite Roan songs. It revolves around her journey as an artist and the homesickness she’s felt along the way. It took Roan a decade to become the massive success she is, and throughout the journey she’s dealt with a ton of trials and tribulations, including moving back home to Missouri after not seeing much success as an artist in California.
“Come get me out of California/No leaves are brown/I miss the seasons in Missouri/My dying town/Thought I’d be cool in California/I’d make you proud/To think I almost had it going/But I let you down,” Roan sings over an instrumental that is incredibly simple when compared to her most popular songs. The instrumental includes piano, a synth that progresses as the song goes on, and a simple percussion beat; however, the song is carried by Roan’s voice, so much so that it starts a cappella and ends with just her singing over a few piano chords.
I love a nice, clean ballad and that’s “California” to me. Another great ballad on this album is “Kaleidoscope” where Roan discusses how difficult love is, while also admiring the beauty that comes along with it. Her vocals undeniably shine through on this song as the production is plain, forcing the listener to truly hear Roan’s voice and lyrics.
“The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” is one of the best debut albums I’ve heard in a while and was one of the best albums that was released in 2023, even if it only started picking up traction this year. I highly recommend taking a listen if you haven’t already as you’ll likely find yourself joining the incredibly crowded Chappell Roan train.