Queering Pop
Queer artistry thrived this past year, with two artists rising above most: Chappell Roan and Peach PRC. Both artists have similar trajectories in their growing careers. Inspired by drag, queer nightlife, and the nostalgic sounds of decades past, these two women had genre- and community-defining releases in 2023.
Photo by Jess Gleeson, 2022
Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, better known as Chappell Roan, released her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, on September 22, 2023. Described as “gloriously tasteless” by The Guardian, Rise and Fall captures the imagination, touched by 1980s synth-pop and the Midwestern ache for dreaming big. Camp dominates Roan’s style, woven throughout her music videos, lyrics, and stage presence. It allows her to connect with her community and always have her biggest inspiration—drag—at the forefront of her artistry. “HOT TO GO!” exemplifies this. Roan portrays a fun desperation as she tries to be seductive before leading us in a dance. She begs, shouts, and prances throughout the music video with exaggerated femininity. Peach PRC, aka Sharlee Jade Curnow, had a big year with her EP debut, Manic Dream Pixie, on April 28, 2023, followed later by her new single, “Like a Girl Does”, in November the same year. Inspired by the “shamelessly gaudy and schlocky” era of the early 2000s, her Y2K space-pop sound would fit alongside A*Teens’ “Upside Down” or Cascada’s “Every Time We Touch” (which Peach even covers). Her music is completely indulgent, featuring energetic instrumentals and electric bass, with lyrics to match. Her sweet, bubblegum lyrics don’t leave much room for analysis, but that was her goal. “It was just fun to jump around to,” she said to NME. And like Roan, Peach’s queerness guides her music. “Like A Girl Does” is a risqué romp about sapphic relationships in a world dominated by men’s fetishization of lesbians.
Both these women fill a long-untapped niche within the queer scene. As Peach put it for Indy100: “I feel like I don't hear a lot of queer women's pop music” that goes beyond the soft, indie-pop sound of artists like Boygenius or Girl in Red. This music is like Pop Rocks: obtrusive, saccharine, and brash. Chappell Roan and Peach PRC create music meant for the club, be it a night club or a gay bar. These spaces often play cis, straight women artists who, while having close ties to the community, are not queer themselves. Queer women and feminine folks deserve to be represented in these spaces, and Chappell Roan and Peach PRC provide the bubblegum pop cure.
