Cross-genre releases have been very on trend this year, and here we have another as King Princess’ debut LP uses lounge sounds alongside the usual dosing of pop. It’s smooth, like chocolate fountain kinda smooth: each song melting into the marshmallow, or strawberry, or banana or whatever else you have on your stick, melting away. But it’s also extremely classy – like an old vintage wine you’d find in the basement of a lounge bar as King Princess sits on a stool, singing songs with witty lines, bashing an ex (see ‘Useless Phrases’ and ‘Do You Wanna See Me Cry?’).
There’s a maturity to this album, but then again, there’s been a maturity to pretty much everything Mikaela Mullaney Straus has done so far. She’s a classy songwriter, shown right from the start following her debut single, ‘1950’; she’s always sounded fully-formed, continually releasing high-class pop songs with a purpose.
This record is a continuation of that: the tracks flow effortlessly, tied together with simple but clever slices of production. This is made even more impressive by the variety of song styles on the album. Cheap Queen is experimental, with RnB cuts, jazzy interludes, pure pop, lounge rock and even a hint of ‘elevator music’ (but those elevators in the really fancy, 5 star hotels, of course). There’s a real mix, but the album never feels disjointed.
Haiku Review
Effortlessly slick.
Bow down before King Princess:
Marvel at her class.
Listen to King Princess on Spotify and Apple.
