Grab the Glitter and the Tissues for Chappell Roan’s “Kaleidoscope”

Stella Feinstein

Kayleigh Rose Amstutz first donned the name Chappell Roan in 2017 with EP School Nights. Since then, Roan and her main collaborator, Daniel Nigro (best known for Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR and Conan Gray’s Superache), have put out hit after hit. “Kaleidoscope” is sonically different from Roan’s latest releases, but if there’s one artist to not put in a box, it’s Chappell.

Photo by Ryan Lee Clemens

Live instruments, pianos, and violins, are used to let her words speak for themselves in  “Kaleidoscope.” A tale, according to Roan, about “realizing I was in love with my best friend,” and how “as my love for them changes, it’s always love no matter which way you look at it.” As she zones in, she allows herself to relive what she felt so piercingly that her voice almost breaks while recalling it.

Roan has stationed herself as a figurehead in 21st-century LGBTQ+ history with not only her lyrics but her Naked in North America tour as well. At each stop, local drag queens opened up for her shows, and a portion of the proceeds from every ticket sold went to For The Gworls whose mission statement details them as “a Black and trans-led collective that curates parties tofundraise money to help Black transgender people pay for their rent, gender-affirming surgeries,smaller co-pays for medicines/doctor’s visits and travel assistance.”

“Kaleidoscope” leans into the dark ballads found in the earlier stages of her career, but reminds her audience how much she’s grown since then with ​​her breathy yet healthy falsetto and let-it-all-out belt in the final chorus. Chappell Roan’s debut album is set for a 2023 release and needless to say, is highly anticipated.

Listen here!