React & Review: Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

Officially part of the Pink Pony Club.

Alright, alright. I’ve seen the posts and emails. If anything, I’ve been looking forward to reacting to this album. It’s easily the most requested album reaction I’ve gotten to date and I appreciate each and every one of you who reached out via email or on social media to remind me.

More than any other artist, I don’t think I need much more of an introduction. So without further ado, here’s Chappell Roan ’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.

Femininomenon

I wanted to start out by saying, that’s an absolute banger of a first track title. I haven’t heard a single track yet, but that song title is starting things off strong already.

Another thing to note: I’m only at the 10 second mark of this track and I already know the theme of the album. For once, the album artwork fits the theme of the first track. I love it.

Right off the rip, I’m in love with the reverb on her vocals here. The track isn’t terribly complex so the reverb fills the space quite nicely. I also love the sharpness in her voice. A lot of producers/mixing engineers are afraid to add that extra sharpness to vocals, but I respect the production decision here.

The panned backing vocals are a nice touch. The harmonies are coming out of the right channel, and a completely different harmony is coming out of the left.

Okay, that bass drop. That’s a surprise. It’s not a deep, in your gut bass drop, but it’s a mid-bass punch. Again, I respect the production decision here. Going beyond expectations.

I’m a sucker for talk singing, especially when it goes the literal route of explaining what’s about to happen. Can you play a fucking song with a beat?. Love that. There’s the sub-bass. I love the hi-hat pattern here as well. It fills in the pockets quite well. There’s a not-so-hidden-but-you-might-miss-it-if-you’re-not-careful shaker blended beautifully in the hi-hat pattern.

The back-and-forth bridge is great. It strips back the instrumentation, leaving just the drum pattern. And again, I really love talking within songs, if done right. I don’t know how it gets better than this.

Yeah no, this is my favorite type of bridge. It adds in the bass line midway through. And that transition into the final chorus is so good.

This opening track reminds me a lot of Caroline Polachek’s Welcome To My Island. Not so much that it sounds similar, but the theming is giving off the same vibe. It’s a track that I don’t absolutely love, but could see myself loving with time.

Red Wine Supernova

Kicking things off with an acoustic guitar. Sounds like a mono guitar doubled and panned for each channel.

The bass jumps out at you right away. It’s not super bassy, but I sense a pattern with that. A very fun and bouncy bass line here. The kick drum fills in the pocket quite nicely with a super sub-bass heavy presence.

I’m not even at the chorus yet and I can already tell this might be one of my favorite tracks on the album. It’s so fun and is a certified bop. I’m calling it now. Anyway, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here. Let’s continue.

I can’t get over that driving bass. It’s so good. While I can’t know for sure, it sounds like it’s actually three different basses, layered together in post. A very light sub-bass, a meaty mid-bass, and a bouncy and light upper-bass track stitched together.

The pre-chorus is to die for. It strips everything back to just the acoustic guitar and several layers of vocal harmonies. It flows right into the main chorus where everything gets re-introduced. It’s a great break for the listener.

Don’t think I missed it. I heard the subtle clap to transition between the second verse and the pre-chorus.

I think this track is summed up best by saying it’s a lot of back and forth. Both in the vocals and the instrumentation. But not at the same time. While the instrumentation pushes, the vocals pull back, and vice versa. It gives a very unique and interesting dynamic.

Again with the talk singing. That sums up the bridge. No notes. That’s it. Seriously, that’s it.

Oh, am I hearing a fade out outro? OH MY GOD. It’s even better. Instrumentation fades out and we’re back at it with just the acoustic guitar and vocals. My only gripe here is I wish there were another 3-4 bars. It got cut short.

After Midnight

Oh hey look, it’s the title of my favorite late-night game show. Just kidding, of course. Although, Taylor Tomlinson would love to have you on, Chappell. Just sayin’.

Interesting that the track started on the off-beat. If anything, it threw me off completely and had me wondering if the first half second of the song got cut off. I was wrong, it didn’t.

Yet, I think this sentiment carries throughout the track. I’m finding it difficult to concentrate as I’m in a constant state of "this sounds off". I will say, however, that the triangle on every fourth beat is fun. It’s low in the mix and comes out of the left channel. I’m digging the funky beat and Chappell’s slightly sassy vocals here. It meshes well. The bass line is super thick and heavy. There’s a lot of mid-bass, but not much sub-, or upper-bass at all. It fills a nice pocket.

And I think that’s the best way to describe this track. Much like the late-night game show with the same name, this song is super funky with a little sass. I don’t know if it’ll be in my top five from this album by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a great track.

I love the vocal pattern on her vocals, especially during the choruses. It’s very flowy. I especially love her ad-libs near the end of the track. It meshes well with the chaos that is the instrumentation. Admittedly, I think it might be a slight sensory overload. Just a hair over too many things going on at once.

Coffee

Oh, are we getting a ballad? One second. Let me mentally prepare for a slower track. I can hear it in the soft piano.

The first few lines of the first verse reminds me a lot of Sabrina Carpenter’s skinny dipping. It has a similar pacing.

Again with the reverb. Her vocals are best when there’s a ton of reverb added. I could listen to her vocals with reverb all day.

Okay, I wasn’t expecting an acoustic guitar after that initial chorus. I was thinking more along the lines of some soft drums combined with a soft bass there. But I’ll take what I can get.

Is anyone else crying? No? Just me. Fine. Yeah, I said it. This song tugs at my heartstrings. It’s so sad and I love it. For the first ballad on the track, it’s a solid A. No notes. Okay, maybe one note. I love the backing vocals/harmonies at the end of the track. So many layers and emotions to unpack.

If anything, I’m looking forward to more ballads from her.

Casual

I love the ramp up to this track. Again, with the vocal reverb. Now, you combine that with the echoed snare drum. Absolutely fantastic.

I think the theme for this track in terms of production is very clear. Atmosphere. The soundstage is very wide despite a relatively simple production. I’m not one to typically go in-depth with the lyrics, but the theme is also very clear. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure this one out. It’s explicit without being literal in its lyricism.

A bass line usually doesn’t have reverb added. But in this case, it really suits the track with practically everything else having it added. Again, it’s very atmospheric and wide. I’d wager even if you were listening to this track with a cheap $10 set of gas station earbuds, you’d still be able to hear it.

I love the subtle-but-you-probably-missed-it synth added in the right channel for the final choruses. It’s very low in the mix, but you can hear it starting right before the final chorus starts if you’re listening carefully.

Of course, the ad-libs, and vocal layering is great here as well. It has to be for a song that has so much space.

Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl

Again with that funky bass. It’s one of my favorite things about modern popular music. We need more of it. The introduction of the drum kit here is very well done as well. Super bouncy and not in your face. The hi-hats are pretty mid (not too sharp, but not too filtered), and I imagine the kick drum is going to go full dig-into-your-ribs deep later on in the track.

Oh my god, the cowbell. I can’t. Sounds like I’m in for yet another banger. So, it sounds like I was wrong about the kick drum. Sounds like the production team added a pad or a light synth to the bass in the pre-chorus. It’s digging a little bit deeper and has a bit more added in the upper-bass, lower-mids area. The electronic snare drum is great here as well.

Immediately wrong, but not completely right. The kick drum got deeper, but so did the bass. I’m pleasantly surprised. I’m also in love with the clap as well. As far as I can tell, she’s been exclusively using snares. So having a clap instead of a snare (1:10 in) is a nice surprise.

Don’t think I missed it. I noticed the snare change up for the first half of the second verse. Subtle, but very welcomed ear candy. The build up in the second pre-chorus is great. In addition to that already great cowbell, there’s also a very subtle cymbal added in the right channel.

Talk about Ultra Modern Girl, the bridge sounds like it came straight out of 2040. Very electronic and digital. I can dig it.

HOT TO GO!

One could argue that it’s hard not to have heard this song before. And you’d be correct. It would be. Yet, here I am. I’ve heard bits and pieces of this track, mainly the viral chorus. But otherwise, I’m looking at it with fresh eyes. Even so, no notes on the chorus. I’ve heard it mostly through social media and in passing, but I am very glad it’s getting the attention it deserves. Super catchy. Anyways, the rest of the track.

The intro to this track is very bass and lower-mids heavy. Lots of bass, especially sub- and mid-bass. And the synth/bass packs a lot of lower-mids.

And this is the difference between reverb and echo. Her vocals in the first verse have an echo added, but no reverb.

Of course, as I’ve stated countless times in this article already, I’m a sucker for talk vocals. The pre-chorus is a great example of this. I also love the subtle crash symbol here as well.

Here’s an analogy for you. If Casual is the embodiment of atmospheric, HOT TO GO! is the complete opposite. It’s very intimate and close. The furthest it goes is during the chorus with the vocals. It goes slightly wide.

I love the decision to amp up during the bridge instead of slowing things down. It has already encapsulated you and now it’s not letting that go. Transitioning into the final choruses, her runs, and ad-libs are absolutely great. I also love that the track ramps down fairly quickly instead of fading out.

My Kink Is Karma

Back at it with the heavy reverb on the vocals. I’m finding the slower tempo very interesting given what I’ve heard so far. It’s not that I was expecting a lower tempo track, but outside of the one ballad so far, everything’s been very upbeat and fast paced.

The snare on this track is interesting. It sounds like there was a high-pass filter added, and it’s filtering the snare up until around the 10-12K range. Not much bite or presence, but very digital sounding.

I’m having a very hard time trying to figure out if I like this track or not. I’m kind of torn. I don’t love it, but I don’t quite hate it either. But it’s by no means a bad song. It’s just a very interesting break in the album. It’s throwing me off, I think.

The transition to the bridge is rather interesting. For a second, it sounded like the track was ending. The best way I can describe it is that it sounded like the chorus "bled" into the bridge a little.

I will say, however, that I quite enjoyed the ending to this track. The last 8 bars or so. Again, I respect the abrupt ending to the track, rather than a fade out.

Picture You

Right off the bat, I love the breath at the beginning. It’s very powerful, and it signaled to me, before hearing anything else that we’re headed into a sad song, possibly a ballad.

I’m in love with the verse and hearted this song so fast because of it. It’s easily going to make my list of top five tracks on the album. I don’t need to listen to the rest of the track to know it’s going to be good. The acoustic guitar, combined with the soft drum is so good.

Yep, there it is, the waterworks. The way Chappell is able to control her voice and really convey emotion is hard to put into words. I love not only the filtered vocals in the second verse but the various ad-libs throughout. It’s not totally unheard of, but not terribly common to have ad-libs this early in the track. But it really adds to this track.

I didn’t even notice the bass on this track. It’s super light and low in the mix. But once you hear it, you realize its role. It fills in the pockets. Nice touch. It blends in with the acoustic guitar well.

Kaleidoscope

Okay, it sounds like we might get another sad song. At least this time I’m ready.

I don’t care that I’m going to sound like a broken record. Chappell’s voice is fantastic when there’s reverb added (it’s great when there isn’t any, but whoever produced the tracks on this album needs to be complimented here).

I love the very light (I want to say piano, but it might not be the right instrument) that comes after every line. It’s in the right channel and is very, very subtle. It adds a nice trail to her vocals.

The bass and strings added at about the 1:15 mark (not sure if we’re in the verse still, or in the chorus to be honest. I’m very distracted by the vocal performance here).

Yeah sorry. Not much reaction here. This track is absolutely gorgeous. That can’t be denied. It’s great, there’s not much else I can say here. It’s definitely worth the listen.

Pink Pony Club

I think I’m sensing a pattern here. If I had to hedge my bets, I’d say that the second half of the album is more emotional, and a bit slower paced. It’s for us girlies that are going through shit.

No, I was wrong. There’s a synth here. It gave me a false sense of intuition. I’m pleasantly surprised given the presence of a soft piano in the intro, going into the first verse. I’m in love with the synth though. Very catchy.

That placement of the hi-hats has me hooked though. It’s not in your face, but not so far back that it disappears like in some of her other tracks. It has me hooked.

Holy. A guitar solo? In a Chappell Roan track? I was not expecting that at all, but I’m here for it. It’s perfect. It’s not a fast-paced solo, nor is one that really digs into the lower registers. It’s a fun, pop solo. That deserves a heart from me for that alone.

And of course, another guitar solo to end the track. How can I say no to that? Definitely going to heart it now.

I suppose my one gripe with this track is that outro. That fade out was definitely way too aggressive. There’s an audible dip in the song as it starts to fade out.

Naked In Manhattan

I’ve said it probably half a dozen times on this album already, but I love the intro. I love the phone call effect at the beginning. I love the growling synth.

The stripped back pre-chorus is cool with just the vocals and a light synth. The chorus is excellent as well, with the very catchy synth bass and drum kit. Very dynamic in both regards.

I sing that Lana song that makes you cry is definitely a vibe. If you know, you know. If you don’t, sorry. Maybe it’s time to listen to a sad Lana song. Love the reference. We both have a crush on Regina George, again, a vibe.

This track is a song that I don’t have much to say, yet it’s an absolute vibe. Another one of those must-listen tracks. It’s a must.

California

Kicking things off with just the vocals. That’s definitely a choice. I’m not sure how I feel about it quite yet. But you already know, I love the reverb on her vocals.

It was the right choice, I think. One thing I absolutely love about this track is its build up. It starts off with just her vocals. Yet, instruments are added one by one. To the point where I’m two minutes into the track and things are still being added.

Equally, I love the ramp down on the song. As fast as it builds up, it tears everything down in the same amount of time. Not a whole lot going on outside of that. But I suppose that’s the point.

Guilty Pleasure

Again with the intro. I love the ad-libs and vocal layering. We then transition into the first verse, where we hear a telephone-like effect being added to her vocals, accompanied by an acoustic guitar.

The width and soundstage here are absolutely wild. Chappell’s vocals are centered but very high in the mix. Combine that with her backing vocals, which are as wide as you could reasonably get. The acoustic guitar sits right in the middle.

Wait... is the last track a callback to the entire album? The switch up at the 1:05 mark makes me think so. It was so abrupt. I was not expecting that.

I’m so baffled as to what has just happened to me that the song ended. I might have to give this one a listen again.

Conclusion

A very solid pop album. I see in my notes that this album came out late last year, yet it only really took off about a month or two ago. That’s criminal. But that’s the nature of the business.

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is very good. I could see this making my year-end top streamed albums of the year list. There are a lot of excellent tracks on here. It’s a great mix of upbeat-danceable tracks and straight ballads that will have you balling your eyes out.

But by far the thing that sticks out the most is its production. I was constantly surprised and delighted by the production choices as I heard each track for the first time. There were very few production misses in my book. Couple that with her top-notch vocals and you have an album that’s demanding to be listened to.

If you’re a pop head like myself, this album definitely is worth every second. HOT TO GO! is very good, but your ears deserve to listen to the rest of this album.

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Note: This album reaction and review was completed after listening to Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess via Tidal with an active Tidal subscription (24-bit, 44.1 kHz) on Roon ARC.