Chappell Roan Gets Hot, Heavy and Heartbroken on 'The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess'
Though Rise and Fall is Amstutz's debut album, at 25 she's already been through the industry wringer. Plucked from YouTube obscurity at 17 by Atlantic Records, she released the School Nights EP back in 2017 followed by a few singles. But the music wasn't clicking with audiences or Amstutz herself, who had moved on from its middle-of-the-road Lorde-and-Lana-biting sound. 2020's "Pink Pony Club," showed a new way forward, and was lauded by critics. But apparently the numbers weren't adding up business-wise — Amstutz's musical coming out ended with Atlantic dropping her.
Still, the sessions that produced "Pink Pony Club" would prove fruitful. The song was co-written with Dan Nigro, best known at the time for his work with Sky Ferreira and Caroline Polachek. Nigro would become Amstutz's chief collaborator for Rise and Fall, with Amstutz being the first artist signed to Nigro's new imprint, Amusement Records. The final piece of the puzzle came when Amstutz was asked to go on tour with another Nigro collaborator you might've heard of in Olivia Rodrigo.
The steady drip of singles that form the backbone of the record expanded on the world and themes of "Pink Pony Club." In a sea of would-be pop superstars, these tracks doubled as statements of purpose, mixing the indie pop aesthetics of Grace Ives and Sir Babygirl with bits of cabaret and maximalist pop.
Taken as a whole, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is first and foremost a fun record, full of distinctive perspectives and unique turns of phrase propelled by a voice that can move from sing-speak to classic balladry. "Hot to Go" includes a cheerleader chant chorus declaring Amstutz's level of arousal. "Red Wine Supernova" walks listeners through a pivotal hook up complete with an inner monologue adding its own details. Meanwhile the pulsing, midtempo "Casual" — sonically the most au currant leaning track on the record — captures the liminal state between hooking up and dating in all its confounding glory.
Yet the record's weakest moments often come when Amstutz flexes her pipes. Songs like "Picture You" and "California" are perfectly fine and lyrically serve the album's broader narrative. But they lack the idiosyncratic charm of the record's brightest moments, tied more to the old Chappell Roan, the one that struggled to get out from under the weight of her influences. Grouped in the album's back half and lacking the breezy joie de vivre of the record's first eight or so songs, they make for an uneven listening experience.
Still, the record has enough shimmer and verve to keep it afloat. Amstutz has made a chart-friendly pop record that never loses sight of what made its central character so compelling in the first place.