Brooklyn singer-songwriter King Princess (Mikaela Straus) recently explained that Cheap Queen, the title of her debut album, is a term she borrowed from the world of drag queens. It refers to a queen who’s resourceful, making something out of not very much. That’s the principle that underpins her laid-back title track, where she sings with a light touch about “doing the same shit I’ve always liked”.
Despite appearing on the cover in drag make-up, the 20-year-old rising star is similarly understated throughout the record: it’s the sonic equivalent of putting on a full face just to sit at home smoking weed. Straus made her name with flagrant pop anthems such as Pussy is God, and 1950 – which launched her to fame in 2018 when Harry Styles tweeted its lyrics – their absurdist videos, revealing a queer star who twists gender conventions and pokes fun at her own image. But the album treads much more vulnerable, confessional ground. Sample track titles: Do You Wanna See Me Crying? and You Destroyed My Heart.
The queen of drawn-on moustaches and sardonic punchlines actually does earnestness very well: “I feel better with my heart out,” she sighs at one point. Highlights include the digital loneliness ballad Watching My Phone, and the dusky, downbeat crush song Prophet. A recurring theme is forbidden love: she sings about being the secret girlfriend on the hushed Homegirl to devastating effect (“We’re friends at the party / I’ll give you my body at home”).
Of course, after building up the tension for 11 tracks, King Princess does eventually unleash her goofy side with a funk-driven, finger-snapping “bottom anthem” titled Hit the Back. It’s bound to be the highlight of her live shows – she has dropped a video of herself learning the cute choreography for it and instructed her fans to teach themselves. But on the whole, this is a record for comfort listening on headphones. Her voice is often intimately close in the mix, brushing up against your ear, unglamorous and unadorned.
