The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Chappell Roan, released on September 22, 2023, through Amusement Records, an imprint of Island Records owned by the album's producer, Dan Nigro. Primarily a pop record, Midwest Princess also contains elements of synth-pop, pop rock, new wave, folk-pop, rock, dance-pop, country, and disco.

Written and produced alongside Nigro beginning in 2018, Midwest Princess is noted for its "campy" pop sound and influence from queer performance art such as drag shows. 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 queer identity – themes that would become central to the record. After being dropped by her label, Roan continued her career as an independent artist, releasing songs that would form the foundation of Midwest Princess.

Midwest Princess was met with widespread acclaim and praised by music critics for its bold, innovative, 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 multiple year-end best albums lists for 2023.

Although not an immediate commercial success, Midwest Princess garnered 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, Midwest Princess had climbed the charts, peaking within the top ten on the Billboard 200. Subsequently, several of its singles ("Pink Pony Club", "Red Wine Supernova", and "Hot to Go!") entered the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time since their release.

Roan promoted the album by headlining the Midwest Princess Tour in 2023 and 2024, along with appearances on NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts series, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Background and recording
Roan was signed to Atlantic Records and living in Los Angeles by 2017, when she released the EP School Nights, a "folk-leaning" project she later admitted she "hated". In 2018, Roan started working with Dan Nigro, eventually releasing the album's first single, "Pink Pony Club", in April 2020 after Atlantic Records had said "no" to the song "for a year". Roan ultimately was dropped by Atlantic later in 2020. In addition to breaking up with her boyfriend of over four years and the COVID-19 pandemic, Roan moved back to her home state of Missouri. She worked jobs to save money to move back to Los Angeles, at which point she resumed working with Nigro, and signed to his Island Records imprint Amusement. Roan said that The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess allowed her to "come to accept [her] queerness".

Critical reception
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess received critical acclaim upon release. 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". 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".

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". 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". Robert Moran of The Sydney Morning Herald described it as "pop at its most fun and life-affirming".

Accolades
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess was included in several best-albums-of-2023 year-end lists, being ranked in those by The A.V. Club (2nd), TIME (4th), Nylon (8th), Dork (11th), Rolling Stone (12th), Billboard (13th), The Skinny (19th), Uproxx (1 of 74 unranked albums), Alternative Press (1 of 50 unranked albums), and Vogue (1 of 27 unranked albums). It was also listed as one of Pitchfork 's 22 Best Pop Albums of 2023 and was named Pop Buzz's Number One Album of 2023.

Track listing
Note
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Personnel
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)