Just over three months after she released her debut album "Cheap Queen," popstar and queer icon King Princess came out with a deluxe version of her first LP on Friday, Feb. 14. While I thought the project’s first rendition was a little boring, these new track additions are amazing and different, helping to make up for my initial reaction.
KP added five new tracks, all of which discuss topics from past relationships to sexuality to the hard parts of rising to fame.
“Back of a Cab”: This track discusses how hard it can be to get over your first love and acknowledge your ever holding feelings for them.
“I guess it's hard to realize that your heart never healed right / And the hard part of movin' on is you always take a piece from your last love, through your next life,” KP sings.
This song begins and ends with a voice recording from a 50s short film, which sets the tone for the old-school vibes all of the new music entails. The production of this piece is different too and includes unique sounds and mixing.
“All Dressed In White”: This under-2-minute track displays different emotions through slower sounds and a ballad-like tune. It talks about planning to marry someone and wanting to see them “all dressed in white,” making this the perfect Valentine’s Day love song.
“You’re the queen of my living room / Sit by the window and smoke like you’re saving a life,” sings KP.
While she does better at including different sounds and feelings with this new music, I do feel that KP could have varied her own voice's tone more to make the album even more versatile and reflect the uniqueness and talent she had in her “Make My Bed” EP.
“Forget About It”: Adding a feature can spice up any song and this collaboration with Banoffee shows exactly what teaming up with other artists can do. In this track, the “1950” singer reminisces about a past relationship and the questions that were raised during their time together. This is probably my favorite of the new songs, as it is more upbeat and fun and perfect to dance around to with your friends.
Relationships, whether romantic or not, can be difficult to move past and look back on. This is something KP talks a lot about and tons of people can easily relate to.
“Best Friend”: “Now you wanna be my best friend again / Call me after two years and then / Cry about your bad luck with men / And ask me how the f**k have I been?” KP sings. “You know I want to tell you it all / I wish that I could hate that you called / You said you hope to see me this fall / But I don’t wanna see you at all.”
It can often be hard to not go back to someone who hurt you in the past, especially if you had a lot of love for them. On the second to last track of the album, KP talks about an old best friend coming back into her life, and while in a way she’s happy to hear from them, she doesn’t want to let their toxic nature back into her life.
“Ohio”: On the last song of Cheap Queen, KP battles the misconception that money and fame can buy happiness. “Cause I’ve been getting rich, but everything I love is broke,” KP sings. While material objects can help improve ways of living, there is way more to truly being happy.
“Ohio” was actually released first as a single on February 11th, alongside an official music video posted to YouTube that gives off even more old-school rock feels.
I still think King Princess’ first singles show her true talent even more but these songs definitely added to the album’s versatility and variety. I am excited to see her growth as an artist in the future. You should definitely check out her music if you haven’t already.
I would give the deluxe version of this album 4 out of 5 Swoops.
