‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’ and its swing to go for rambunctious slices of queer thrills and drama unveils greatness for Chappell Roan’s remarkable talent.
There is something rejoiceful with Chappell Roan as she spelunkers onto the scene with ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’. In the year when the waves of pop music revel in the essence of horniness, there is something energetic in how Chappell Roan embraces that, where the sex is not heartwarming but also extremely bouncy and energetic in all of its strokes. Perhaps, it’s that aspect of queerness that makes it so relieving, a positive dash of air flowing through, an allure that makes engaging in such passion and desire so enjoyable.
With production credits from Dan Nigro and his array of buzzy synths, shuffling acoustics, and glazed soundscapes, ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’ is a pop galore full of thrills and stimulations. Chappell Roan’s enamored vocal presence from the animated gusto and impassioned balladry insert a lot of the melodies and glammed up sound in sky-high greatness. The buzzy synth burble on ‘Femininomenon’ might be a tough sonic tapestry that opens up the song, but Chappell Roan’s natural charismatic flair in her stunning voice blows through that hesitation. She’s feisty and blazened, enflaming the runway as she struts to and fro. It allows the melodic stickiness on ‘Red Wine Supernova’ with the vibrant guitars and synths, ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’ with the pulsating synth palpitations, and ‘HOT TO GO!’ with the jaunty build-ups burn hot and bright where Chappell Roan’s fervent magnetism pulls you in for those anthemic hooks. She also rows the slower ballad-quality songs here as well. The straightforward ‘Kaleidoscope’ with the gleaming pianos and shaking chimes cushions Chappell Roan’s higher range, her yearning even more intensified. Then comes ‘Pink Pony Club’ where her vocals are filled with wonderment as she straddles along the sonic foundations of acoustics and synths amidst the steady flow of the song.
Of course, she imbues that thrilling attributes to her writing as well. All stuffed with kinky horniness that is all presented as joyous and exciting, delivered with a neck-biting lively queerness on display. Lively enough to make the Papa John references on ‘Femininomenon’ amidst her commanding chorus about getting sick of being in exhausting relationships with guys. And on cuts like ‘HOT TO GO!’, ‘SUPER MODERN GRAPHIC ULTRA MODERN GIRL’, and ‘Red Wine Supernova’ just squirm with that libido flashed open, turned on with a wink and a tongue out. The queerness all over the project is deepened not just on ‘Pink Pony Club’ where it does pay tribute to that queer bar, but specifically on the romantic cuts where it gets a lot more vulnerable and grounded. ‘Coffee’ might be a detailed scene of Roan trying to move past her ex despite having that inkling of forwards towards them, but tracks like ‘Casual’ with her rumination on a hookup that she wants to become something more yet the reciprocation is left one-sided and ‘My Kink Is Karma’ where she gets satisfaction as her ex stumbles hard after treating her like shit turns that kinky poetry into something effectively melodramatic, bringing a lot more ache and sting than ever before.
The album’s quality reaches so high that it’s frustrating to see the weak spots pegging down the high points of the project, and it might have to do with the scale of instrumentation and the flow. The production that Dan Nigro offered may provide a lot of room and power for Chappell Roan’s performance to truly shine, the instrumental variance could’ve been opened up a little further, where the rays of pianos, acoustics, and buzzy synths may not always let Chappell Roan’s performance take the entire spotlight for her. And while the first half goes off incredibly strong, the limping pace on the back half with all of its ballad lilting deflates the momentum from a few spare moments before it ends on a decent, but flubbed note.
Yet the flubbed notes of execution do not transpire Chappell Roan’s vocal and poetic presence on the microphone. After all, she is the princess that may have fallen a bit too hard in the end, but her sense of confidence will always let others know that she will always be striving right on top, where her display of queer romance and sensuality never ceases to lose its sparkle. She may still carry that trophy and bouquet, but her newfound acceptance of her queerness carries a lot of meaningful specialty for her.
Favorite Tracks: ‘Feminomenon’, ‘Red Wine Supernova’, ‘Coffee’, ‘Casual’, ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’, ‘HOT TO GO!’, ‘My Kink Is Karma’, ‘Kaleidoscope’, ‘Pink Pony Club’
Least Favorite Track: ‘Picture You’