Cheap Queen
Cheap Queen is the debut studio album by American pop singer-songwriter King Princess, released on October 25, 2019, through Mark Ronson's imprint of Columbia Records, Zelig Records.
A deluxe edition of the album with five additional tracks was released on February 14, 2020. Straus began a tour in support of the album on September 20, 2019.
| Cheap Queen | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Standard edition cover. The deluxe edition features Princess in different make-up against a blue background, with the title in white above her. | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 25, 2019 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 38:51 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer |
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| King Princess chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Cheap Queen | ||||
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| Singles from Cheap Queen (Deluxe Edition) | ||||
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Background
The album was written chronologically, with Straus stating that she named the album Cheap Queen after the drag term for a queen that is "resourceful, making something out of not very much". While Straus started her career with songs like "1950" and "Pussy Is God", The Guardian remarked that she swaps out those "queer pop anthems for understated ballads". Straus explained that the album's sound came about as she was "dealing with the most vulnerable year of my life" after the popularity of "1950", as she was under "complete stress and anxiety, and not knowing what to do with myself or with my body, and then also being in love".
Straus released a deluxe edition of Cheap Queen on February 14, 2020, which included five new songs.
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.5/10 |
| Metacritic | 81/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| DIY | |
| Exclaim! | 8/10 |
| The Guardian | |
| The Irish Times | |
| NME | |
| Pitchfork | 7.4/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone |  |
| Uncut | 8/10 |
Cheap Queen received universal acclaim from music critics. On review aggregate site Metacritic the album received a rating of 81 out of 100 from 13 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The album's sound has been compared to the works of Prince, Morrissey, Richard Hawley, Lily Allen, Madonna, Lorde, James Blake, Robyn, Imogen Heap, Fiona Apple, Billie Eilish, Maggie Rogers, Clairo, and Janis Joplin. Matt Collar of Allmusic praised how Straus examines themes of gender and sexuality "with a low-key sensuality that combines masculine hip-hop confidence with a soulful, feminist point-of-view". Max Gayler of The Line of Best Fit praised the album's "eclectic instrumentation and bold production" and the "one-two punch" of the album's closing two tracks, saying "King Princess hasn't reinvented pop, but she is bridging its most exciting chasms." Aimee Cliff of The Guardian complimented the "funk-driven" "Hit the Back", as well as King Princess's voice, which Cliff described as "often intimately close in the mix, brushing up against your ear, unglamorous and unadorned."
Accolades
| Publication | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| AllMusic | Best Pop Albums of 2019 | — |
| Consequence of Sound | Top 50 Albums of 2019 | 15 |
| GQ Magazine | The Best Albums of 2019 | — |
| The Guardian | The 50 Best Albums of 2019 | 46 |
| The Line of Best Fit | The 50 Best Albums of 2019 Ranked | 38 |
| PopCrush | 25 Best Pop Albums of 2019 | — |
| Time | The 10 Best Albums of 2019 | 8 |
| Uproxx | The Best Albums of 2019 | 30 |
| The 35 Best Pop Albums of 2019 | 9 | |
| USA Today | Best Albums of 2019 | 2 |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tough on Myself" |
|
| 3:43 |
| 2. | "Useless Phrases" |
|
| 1:16 |
| 3. | "Cheap Queen" |
| 2:41 | |
| 4. | "Ain't Together" |
|
| 3:22 |
| 5. | "Do You Wanna See Me Crying?" |
|
| 1:46 |
| 6. | "Homegirl" |
|
| 3:01 |
| 7. | "Prophet" |
|
| 4:09 |
| 8. | "Isabel's Moment" (featuring Tobias Jesso Jr.) |
|
| 2:13 |
| 9. | "Trust Nobody" |
|
| 3:15 |
| 10. | "Watching My Phone" |
|
| 3:00 |
| 11. | "You Destroyed My Heart" |
|
| 3:40 |
| 12. | "Hit the Back" |
|
| 3:23 |
| 13. | "If You Think It's Love" |
|
| 3:23 |
| Total length: | 38:57 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Back of a Cab" |
|
| 3:07 |
| 15. | "All Dressed in White" |
|
| 2:00 |
| 16. | "Forget About It" (featuring Banoffee) |
|
| 2:59 |
| 17. | "Best Friend" |
|
| 3:25 |
| 18. | "Ohio" |
|
| 4:53 |
| Total length: | 55:25 | |||
Personnel
Musicians
- King Princess – lead and background vocals (all tracks), songwriting (all tracks), production (all tracks), bass (tracks 1–4, 7–12, 14, 16), programming (tracks 1–10, 13, 14, 16–18), synthesizer (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 13, 14, 16), keyboards (tracks 3, 10–12), guitar (tracks 4–7, 10, 11, 14, 18), drums (tracks 9, 11–14)
- Mike Malchicoff – production (tracks 1–7, 9–12, 14–17), assistant producer (tracks 8, 13, 18)
- Nick Long – songwriting (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17), guitar (tracks 1, 4, 7, 9, 11, 16)
- Homer Steinweiss – drums (track 1)
- Leon Michels – keyboards (track 1)
- Jonah Finegold – guitar (tracks 3, 4, 9, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18)
- Michael Freeman – assistant engineer (tracks 3, 4, 9, 13)
- Amandla Stenberg – songwriting (track 3)
- Billie Holiday – songwriting (track 3)
- Carl Sigman – songwriting (track 3)
- Bob Russell – songwriting (track 3)
- Mark Ronson – assistant producer (tracks 4, 9, 16), production (track 17)
- Justin Tranter – songwriting (track 4)
- Edgar J. Sandoval – violin (track 4)
- DJ Dahi – assistant producer (track 4)
- Josh Tillman – drums (track 4)
- Logan McQuade – bass (tracks 5, 17, 18)
- Antoine Fadavi – drums (tracks 5, 11, 18)
- Romy Croft – songwriting (track 6)
- Aron Noah Forbes – songwriting (track 7)
- Tim Anderson – production (track 7), songwriting (tracks 7, 18), programming (track 7)
- Tobias Jesso Jr. – background vocals (track 8)
- Teo Halm – production (track 8), songwriting (track 8), piano (track 8)
- Kid Harpoon – production (track 13), songwriting (track 13), assistant producer (track 13), drums (track 13), programming (track 13), synthesizer (track 13)
- Martha Betty Glenn Brown – songwriting (track 16)
- Banoffee – background vocals (track 16)
- Melody Ector – synthesizer (tracks 17, 18)
- Shawn Everett – production (track 18)
Technical
- Emily Lazar – mastering engineer (all tracks)
- Mike Malchicoff – recording engineer (tracks 1–7, 9, 1–12, 14, 15, 16), mixing engineer (tracks 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14–18)
- Oliver Straus – recording engineer (tracks 1, 7)
- Rob Kinelski – mixing engineer (tracks 1, 12)
- Casey Cuayo – assistant engineer (tracks 1, 12)
- Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing engineer (tracks 3, 4, 7, 9, 13)
- Todd Monfalcone – recording engineer (track 4), assistant engineer (track 15, 17)
- Teo Halm – recording engineer (track 8)
- Kid Harpoon – recording engineer (track 13)
- Samuel Witte – engineer (track 13)
- Chris Allgood – assistant engineer (tracks 14–18)
- Riccardo Damian – recording engineer (track 17)
- Ivan Wayman – recording engineer (track 18)
- Shawn Everett – recording engineer (track 18)
Charts
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 41 |
| UK Physical Albums (OCC) | 86 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) | 8 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) | 18 |
| US Top Current Albums (Billboard) | 88 |
References
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