Today’s the day that Chappell Roan drops her new single – The Giver – her first since standalone single Good Luck, Babe! took her stratospheric and shone a light on her 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
But after carving herself her own unique slice of the pop cake, fans eager for more may be surprised (and even disappointed) by the bold new direction she’s exhibiting on her new track
Yes, like everyone else in pop and dance these days, Roan ‘gone country’.
Roan announced the song on her socials, explaining that she and producer Dan Nigro had “never done a country song and I have such a special place in my heart for country music."
“I grew up listening to it every morning and afternoon on my school bus and had it swirling around me at bonfires, grocery stores and karaoke bars," she continued.
"Many people have asked if this means I’m making a country album??? My answer is.. hmm right now I’m just making songs that make me feel happy and fun and The Giver is my take on cuntry [sic] xoxo may the classic country divas lead their genre, I am just here to twirl and do a little gay yodel for y'all.”
“I think I like this too”
Elaborating further, Roan told the Today’s Country Radio show on Apple Music: “I wanted to write a country song, ‘cos I just thought it would be funny. It’s campy and it’s fun. I’m from southwest Missouri,” she explained. “Grew up on Christian and country, and then found Alejandro by Lady Gaga and I was like, ‘I think I like this too.’”
And while Roan’s country roots and love of country are an obvious underlying influence on the new song, there’s something a little closer to the surface that pushed Roan into trying something new: “Big & Rich’s ‘Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy),” she reveals.
“I was like, ‘I want to feel that way on stage. I want to feel that. Because that’s how I write. I’m like, ‘How do I want to walk around on stage and sing?’ And I was like, ‘I want to write that song, but Chappell’s version.’”
“I really just did it for fun. I’m not switching genres or anything,” she concludes, before teasing “But it’s not no forever…”
