#18: Chappell Roan
I'mgonnakeepondancing down in WEST HOLLYWOOD
There are two more working days of my year left, and I am starting to feel it, despite have today off. So let’s keep this brief. While The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess was released in September 2023, and some of the singles came out in the years preceding, 2024 was Chappell Roan’s breakout year.
She’s been on SNL, and been parodied on SNL (by Bowen Chang dressed up as a fame-tired Moo Deng) and had the rare honour of one of her tracks getting played at a work night out karaoke session. I run a tight ship that no one has asked for and see my role as a vibes mixologist, brutally moving my comrades’ selections up and down the playlist based on what I think is the populist choice for the booth. In my extensive experience in this role (two instances of playlist DJ), I have found that, in general, the best sort of songs for these outings are either ‘gay’ (encompassing pop like Girls Aloud) or 80s — think Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi. There are exceptions of course — Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Can’t Stop’ went down surprisingly well last year, while this time we were treated to renditions of the Irish classic ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ and Eminem’s ‘Stan’ — and some artists, like Madonna, are both gay and 80s. While Robbie Williams is famously neither and yet a certified banger.
Chappell Roan is both gay and 80s too, but with a strong twist of the Scissor Sisters about her. I think of the Scissors Sisters as the first mainstream ‘queer’ act, rather than gay. Their most well known formation comprised gay men, such as Jake Shears, who was a delightful Emcee in the overall ok Cabaret revival last year, alongside Ana Matronic, who has had male and female romantic partners. The eponymous album Scissor Sisters, while I will be seeing for its anniversary tour next year, was banned from sale in Wal-mart because of its filthy (gorgeous) content and anti-conservative tilt. It was 2004, after all: George W Bush’s America.
Meanwhile, the opening track to Midwest Princess, ‘Femininomenon’ sounds weirdly like it came straight out of the Obama years. If that was your first introduction to Chappell’s ouevre, you may be a little tentative. But the rest of the album has a bite to it (‘knee deep in the passenger’s seat and you’re eating me out, is it Casual now?’ my GOD I thought my ears would burn off the first time I heard it and I’m embarrassed to type it out, but it’s a core track) as seen in songs like ‘My Kink is Karma’.
Anyway just…do yourself a lovely favour and watch her SNL performance of ‘Pink Pony Club’: it’s a joy to have a new popstar with range who can hit her notes!