Chappell Roan

~ Post concert clarity ~

Chappell Roan posing for her “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” album cover.

Photo by: Ryan Clemens

11/30/23

11/30/23

‘The Rise and fall of a midwest Princess’

Tuesday. Nov. 14th. School night. The Wiltern. Los Angeles. Crowded. So crowded. Couple next to us won’t stop making out or drinking, not sure which one is worse. Four hours of traffic there and back. Chappell Roan? Worth it.

That’s right, party people. This week I’m talking about the midwest princess AKA Chappell Roan. And if you couldn’t tell by the cryptic, wanna-be-slam-poetry intro, I saw her just two weeks ago with a few of my girlfriends at The Wiltern Theatre in LA. Yes, it was very crowded. Yes, we were standing right beneath the loud speaker, which quick P.S.A: WEAR YOUR EAR PROTECTION AT CONCERTS! Yes, the couple to our left refused to stop aggressively coupling, much to our shorter friend’s chagrin, as she was the one that got heavily subjected to their endless bumping and grinding. Lastly and most importantly, YES, it was a blast of a show.

“Chappell Roan” is the on stage name for Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, a 25-year-old up and coming singer/songwriter, and a beacon of hope for the LGBTQ+ community. She is widely known amongst the drag community for her outspoken support of the art-form by platforming multiple drag queens in every state she performs in as her opening act. Roan has gone on record a few times describing her sound as “dark pop with ballad undertones” and that she writes most of her own songs. Her self-awareness and sexual openness within her lyrics is something that I don’t often come by, which consistently provides me with a unique and fulfilling experience each time I listen to her music. Roan is gaining more and more attention as an essential figure of the LBGTQ+ community and as a two-time opener for Olivia Rodrigo.

I’ve also seen Chappell Roan twice now, at her own shows, which we’ll be circling back to in a bit, and both times she has put on nothing less than a show✨!!! Emphasis on the ✨. Roan is an artist for people who love to have fun. As simple as it sounds, it’s not as easy to find as one might like to think. Roan has an assertive yet endearing presence to her that without fail fills the room, no matter how big or small, with an aggressively bubblegum poppy seduction that, although is a mouthful, is so easy to digest. It’s hard not to at least tap your foot or nod your head when she’s on stage. Even the heterosexual dad who got dragged to the show and had no idea what he was doing there was having fun!!! That’s the midwestern princess’ live performance guarantee.

According to my Spotify Wrapped, which always has a curve ball or two for me in store each year, I listened to 29 genres of music this year. Out of those 29, my top 5 were rock, indie pop, pov: indie, pop, and soft rock. You can actually see the short summary of my Spotify Wrapped over on the Jamming With Jacky Instagram or you can check out my top 2023 songs playlist linked below!

Shameful plug aside, I, personally, already knew that I am not huge on bubblegum pop style music, but the confirmation of that felt validating and worth mentioning nonetheless. Yet, Roan and her bubbly sound still found herself a spot in my ear/heart, my eart, if you will. OH, OH, WAIT, how about this… My h(ear)t! You don’t even have to tell me, I KNOW that was genius. My mind is so powerful…

Speaking of powerful, may I interest you in CHAPPELL ROAN? If you’re looking for a powerful experience, turn your attention towards her 2023 album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” which, according to Roan herself via her Nov. 14th show, has been four whole years in the making. Comprising of 5 brand new songs and 9 songs that had been released over the course of her career, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” takes us on an emotional rollercoaster. But don’t worry! You’ve got a sparkly, pink seat belt to keep you grounded along the way. And by that I mean Chappell’s voice.

Simply put, Roan’s voice, range, intonation, and control is insane both on and off of the track. Her live performances have exceeded my expectations in terms of matching and even surpassing her sound on recordings. Her breath support is also something that is deserving of its own entire blog post, because wow does she have it!

Not only is she a master of vocal control, she also has such a clear eye for theming. I’ve always appreciated artists that encourage their fans to have as much fun as they do on stage by assigning costume themes to each of her concerts. For the first concert I saw her at the theme was “so you wanna be a pop-star?” and this most recent concert was themed after her 2022 single “My Kink Is Karma” which encouraged red and black theming that can be seen in the music video for that song.

Whilst on the topic of her singles that came out before the 2023, majority of the aforementioned songs also have some high-production and highly entertaining music videos accompanying them, with “My KInk Is Karma” having the most memorable choreography and costuming, in my opinion. If you’re up for a fun, flirty watch, check it out!

Or, maybe you’re looking for some lesbian love and heartbreak? In that case you check out literally any of her other music videos, because “My Kink Is Karma” is the only music video where Roan’s “love” interest is (jump-scare warning) a man! AHHHH! Sorry, that scared even ME!

I firmly believe that Roan and her team are some of the smartest people when it comes to aesthetics, especially with their marketing leading up to “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.” With so many singles leading up to the album, anticipation was very high, speaking from a personal and social circle consensus standpoint, of course. Safe to say, myself, my friends, and everyone that was crammed into The Wiltern with us were NOT disappointed with the final product.

Well, I feel like that’s enough of me recommending… time for some more recommendations!

I could not write an entire blog post about this fireball of fun without highlighting the 2022 single “Pink Pony Club.” Don’t let the intro fool you, this song goes HARD! With her velvety chest voice, Roan queues us in with a piano ballad, which slowly but surely turns into a guitar shredding headbanger of a bop. This song sits comfortably at the top of her charts with 19 million streams (most of them probably me). This has been her closing song at both of the shows I have been to, and it never fails to get everyone hyped again for one last go around the rodeo. Usually sporting an iconic pink hat, as seen in the music video for this song (watch it, it’s slay), Roan always manages to sound perfect while singing this vocally challenging song. There is also a lot of context on who Roan, more accurately Kayleigh, really is buried within the lyrics, which I always appreciate. Something about an artist’s willingness to be vulnerable, to me, says a lot about their character, and Roan is not one to shy away from fully embracing who she is, past, present, and future.

“Kaleidoscope” is probably one of my favorite lyrical works of Roan’s, adventuring into the topic the pain that comes from falling for a friend. Similar to how she plays the piano during this song, Roan will play with your heartstrings throughout this piece. There is also some sort of twangy instrument, possibly a harpsichord, which adds to the overall whimsy. The lyrics in “Kaleidoscope” are so painfully sweet, with a childlike innocence to them. Comparing love to a kaleidoscope, a childhood toy, makes it all the more bittersweet. Love to a child is simple, its love, but as you get older, part of that is learning to accept love and all the mess that comes with it, love is still love, but that’s not always enough. Roan hits the nail on the head with such a straightforward analogy, and also flawlessly hits ethereal high notes. Leaning heavily into her higher register, Roan’s delicate head voice makes adds depth to just how fragile of a state she was in while writing this song.

Ouch! This coffee is too hot! Or is it too cold? Or is it just heartbreaking? Unfortunately, the correct answer is that this song is just painful, any way you look at it. “Coffee” is for the people that have been burned, maybe by coffee, but most likely by lovers. The lyrics in this song are just so amazing. With lines like, “I’ll meet you for coffee, only just coffee, nowhere else is safe, every place leads back to your place,” even those that haven’t known what its like to long for someone, regardless of how much painful the history between you is, are able to understand. Roan’s smooth voice is accompanied by one lonely but amazing guitar melody, and there are some occasional strings that chime in. The simplicity of the instrumentation in this song really allows the narrative to shine, despite its dull and dreary subject matter.

“Picture You” is a seductively sweet ballad about romanticism, specifically hoping that someone is thinking of you the same way you are of them. Sexual curiously is a reoccurring theme throughout Roan’s discography, but this song especially dives into her romantic psyche, full of desire and lust. A romantic, pulsating synth instrumental guides us into an alluring vocal melody, setting the scene lyrically and literally for an intimate next few minutes. This song oozes with temptation and want, but is easily consumable for all you secretly freaky people out there. The chorus of this song almost definitely has an intoxicating quality to it, with a melody that hits all the right marks, or... spots ;)

Your eyes do NOT deceive you, there are only four recommendations for this week. This is because I truly feel that a lot of Roan’s upbeat and bubbly songs speak for themselves, with some steep streaming numbers on Spotify to support that theory. Hence my focus on the more dark ballad centric pieces that might get overlooked due to the stark contrasting that takes place throughout the album.

BUT! If you did want to know some of my other favorites from the album, in no particular order: "My Kink Is Karma,” “Red Wine Supernova,” “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl,” “Naked in Manhattan,” and “After Midnight.” So, now that I have essentially recommended and linked you to the entire album, all you have to do is go listen. Or, check out her YouTube channel if you would rather experience her songs with some super aesthetic visuals and thoughtful narratives.

Ultimately, Roan is doing something really fun that I wish more artists would do, which is having fun! It is clear as day that Roan is so passionate about what she does, and the message that has entangled itself with her image. Speaking at every single one of her shows about how important it is to love others the way that you would want to be loved and to not let anyone tell you who you are or what you should be. A beautifully spoken and intelligent LGBTQ+ woman writing euphoric, romantic and sexy love songs? What more do you need to know?!?! GO!!! Give your ears a treat!!!

On that note, Jacky out-y 🍇🤍🍊