Between touring with Olivia Rodrigo and her viral hits “Good Luck, Babe!” and “Casual” amassing tens of millions of streams in the past few months, Chappell Roan has been all the rage in pop culture recently.  After falling in love with some of the snippets of her songs that I heard online, I decided I needed to give a full listen to her 2023 studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Not only did this album blow me out of the water, but I might have found a new favorite artist in the process.

  The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess captures so many different emotions and sentiments from Roan’s life, from navigating romantic relationships with both men and women to chasing dreams of stardom to feeling alienated in her small midwestern hometown. This album beautifully illustrates the good and the bad, but they blend together so well. Songs “Casual” and “Coffee” are two of the saddest on the album, but they don’t feel out of place since other songs like “Femininomenon” and “Guilty Pleasure” start off with melancholy tones and then pick up later on.

  One of my favorite things about this album is just how fun it is. Even when Roan’s lyrics are devastating, the background music is dramatic enough that the sadness they evoke feels strangely picturesque and gratifying. The bridge of “Casual” has me scream-singing with a smile even as tears are streaming down my face, and I think that’s how most of this album is meant to be listened to. The happier songs like “After Midnight” and “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” are equally as amusing, but in a get-up-and-dance kind of way. “HOT TO GO!” is another great song to dance to, and at every concert Roan demonstrates a short choreographed dance to the chorus of the song that requires participants to spell out HOT TO GO with their arms in a fashion that is nothing short of adorable. I’m convinced Roan can make any emotion sound desirable, as even “My Kink is Karma,” which is practically a revenge ballad, is one of the most fun songs I’ve heard all year. 

  I love the way that Roan represents different types of complex relationships throughout the entire album. “Naked in Manhattan” tells the story of the speaker’s first romantic experience with a girl, but lyrics like “an inch away from more than just friends” reveals that a friendship might have changed or been lost in the process. Even more than this, I loved the complicated relationships with family that Roan explores. In “Pink Pony Club,” Roan explains how she felt her mom would be disappointed in her for her outgoing nature and decision to pursue a music career. Also, she opens “After Midnight” with lyrics about advice her mom gave her about spending a night out. These lyrics demonstrate a dichotomy between valuing her mother’s opinions enough to think about them frequently, but still staying true to her own beliefs and desires. I love how real this portrayal of parental relationships is, since usually these relationships are portrayed as very black-and-white for other musicians: their parents are either their best friends or worst enemies.

  The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is proof that Chappell Roan is destined to be a star. From start to finish, the album is energetic and emotional, and Roan is the best artist I’ve discovered all year.