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The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
2023 studio album by Chappell Roan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is the debut studio album by the American singer-songwriter Chappell Roan, released on September 22, 2023, by Amusement Records, an imprint of Island Records. It was met with widespread acclaim and praised by music critics for its bold and emotionally charged nature. Reviews also complimented the album's engaging blend of sharp songwriting, dynamic pop elements, and Roan's vocal performance. Several publications ranked it on year-end best albums lists for 2023. The album earned Roan her first Grammy Award nominations at the 67th annual ceremony, including for Album of the Year, and Roan became one of the only fifteen artists in history to receive nominations in all four main General Field categories in a single night, winning for Best New Artist.
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Roan promoted the album by headlining The Midwest Princess Tour in 2023 and 2024, along with appearances on NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[1]
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Background and recording
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Roan was signed to Atlantic Records and living in Los Angeles by 2017, when she released the EP School Nights, a "folk-leaning" project.[2] In 2018, Roan finished an original debut album for Atlantic Records, but it was shelved by the label.[3] She started again from scratch, working with producer Dan Nigro and eventually releasing the singles "Pink Pony Club" and "Love Me Anyway" in April and May 2020, respectively.[1][4] She released "California" that August, and was dropped by Atlantic Records shortly after.[1] "Pink Pony Club" and "California" were both ultimately included on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
Roan moved back to her home state of Missouri where she worked to save money to move back to Los Angeles, at which point she resumed working with Nigro. In 2023, to support Roan's career and projects, Nigro launched the Island Records imprint Amusement, and signed her to the imprint as the first (and as of 2024, only) artist on the label.[5][6] The album is inspired by Roan's experience leaving her hometown in Missouri for Los Angeles to pursue a career as a singer. During her journey of self-discovery, Roan navigated love, heartbreak, and embraced her sexual identity – themes that would become central to the record.[7] Roan has stated that The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess allowed her to "come to accept [her] queerness".[8] Roan has said that her stage name and persona is a character and compared it to Ziggy Stardust, the character that David Bowie portrayed on his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), the title of which was influential in the title of Roan's album.[9]
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Critical reception
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The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess received critical acclaim upon release.[20][21] According to the review aggregator Metacritic, the album received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 from 7 critic scores. Olivia Horn of Pitchfork called the album "a bold and uproarious introduction, buoyed by sturdy songcraft and steely indifference to good taste", also writing that Roan is "blessed with a powerful and versatile voice".[19] Otis Robinson of DIY summarized it as "thoughtful, a little unhinged and entirely contradictory, merging the alt-pop seriousness of Lana Del Rey with the untethered preppy charm of Lorde to go full throttle into messy, emotional fun".[13]
NME's Hannah Mylrea dubbed it a "bratty, wacky record of huge pop bangers" as well as an "album that combines Roan's electrifying pop stylings with her funny, irresistible songwriting".[17] Sam Franzini of The Line of Best Fit opined that 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".[16] Robert Moran of The Sydney Morning Herald described it as "pop at its most fun and life-affirming".[22] LA Times called it "one of the year’s most exuberant dance-pop albums.[23] Attitude described the album as electro,[24] and Clash described the tracks as alt-pop.[25]
Year-end lists
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Commercial performance
At the time of its release, the album was not an immediate commercial success, originally debuting at number 127 on the US Billboard 200 on the issued date of April 6, 2024.
However, the album started to garner a cult following in the months after its release and became regarded as a "sleeper hit" by early 2024. The album's commercial breakthrough was largely influenced by Roan's supporting act on Olivia Rodrigo's Guts World Tour, her performances at music festivals like Coachella and Governors Ball, and the success of her follow-up single, "Good Luck, Babe!". By June 2024, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess had climbed the charts, peaking at number one in Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and within the top five on the US Billboard 200 at number two. Subsequently, several of its singles ("My Kink Is Karma", "Femininomenon", "Casual", "Pink Pony Club", "Red Wine Supernova", and "Hot to Go!") entered the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time since their release.[41]
Accolades
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Track listing
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Note
- ^[a] signifies an additional producer
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Personnel
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Musicians
- Kayleigh Amstutz – lead vocals (all tracks), background vocals (tracks 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 14)
- Dan Nigro – background vocals (1–7, 9, 14), bass guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 12), guitar (1–3, 6, 8, 9), programming (1), drum programming (2, 7, 9, 14), acoustic guitar (4, 9, 14), piano (4, 10), keyboards (6, 13), drums (9, 14), Mellotron (10)
- Emily Williams – background vocals (1)
- Mike Wise – programming (1), keyboards (6)
- Paul Cartwright – strings (1); viola, violin (9, 10, 13)
- Cara Salimando – background vocals (2)
- Giana Shabestari – background vocals (2)
- Sterling Laws – drums (3, 6, 7, 13)
- Jared Solomon – bass guitar (3)
- Sam Stewart – guitar (4, 7, 11)
- Ryan Linvill – flute (4), bass guitar (8), drum programming (9, 12), saxophone (9), programming (11), horn arrangement (13)
- Arianna Powell – acoustic guitar (4)
- Kate Brady – background vocals (11)
- Benjamin Romans – piano (11)
- Danny Ward – French horn (13)
- Erick Serna – guitar (13)
- Ido Meshulam – trombone (13)
- Austin Drake – trumpet (13)
- Julian Dessler – trumpet (13)
Technical
- Randy Merrill – mastering
- Mitch McCarthy – mixing (1, 4, 7, 11–13)
- Serban Ghenea – mixing (2, 3, 6, 8)
- Michael Coleman – mixing (5)
- Nathan Phillips – mixing (9)
- Tom Elmhirst – mixing (10)
- Geoff Swan – mixing (14)
- Daniel Nigro – engineering
- Mike Wise – engineering (1)
- Noah Conrad – engineering (2)
- Chris Kasych – engineering (4)
- Ryan Linvill – engineering (5, 9)
- Jonah Shy – engineering (6)
- Bryce Bordone – mix engineering (3, 8), mixing assistance (2, 6)
- Austen Healey – engineering assistance (2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 14)
Credits adapted from album liner notes.[47]
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Charts
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Certifications
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Release history
References
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