King Princess is an alternative pop artist and a rising gay icon from Brooklyn, New York, NY. Even though she was privileged to grow up in her father’s recording studio, she’s made a name for herself in the industry. She admits that she grew up privileged, but not because of her access to connections in the music industry. She was privileged to grow up with access to all kinds of musical equipment and having the chance to experiment and play with sound.
Now she follows in her father’s footsteps, she writes and co-produces all her songs. Her music walks the line between alternative rock and indie pop. Mikaela Straus, the person behind the artist has been referred to as an old kind of rock star for the new age. Her music is influenced by the glamor of pop artists like Prince, Freddie Mercury, Elton John and Billie Holiday. Her melancholic voice and melodies were influenced by Leonard Cohen and Patti Smith.
In an interview with The New York Times Magazine she says she’s “emotionally lesbian,” but “culturally” a gay man. You can hear this in her sometimes sappy, always catchy, love songs that she pours her feelings into. Let’s face it, if you’ve ever loved a woman you can relate to her lyrics. She creates crunchy guitar driven ballads that turn into bangers. With themes of love, loss, heat and heartbreak her last album was full of breakup songs. Not the kind of breakup songs that you listen to when you cry in the shower, but the kind of break up songs you listen to as you drink yourself silly in the club.
In an interview with Rolling Stone she says the previous album “Cheap Queen” was really about her hit single “1950” blowing up and being thrown into things she wasn’t really ready for. It’s about fame, women, rock and roll, all that cool rock star stuff that she always wanted. It’s also about her being a slightly toxic and reckless heartbreaker. In that first album, her guard was up. In that first full length album she was playing it safe with catchy and sometimes vague lyrics. As a result many of those songs became hits.
In the freshly released four song EP she gives us a taste of the new album that is set to be released on July 29th. We should expect to really get to know the person behind the artist in the new album. She describes it as a manifesto to let us in on what’s been going on in her life and in her thoughts. We should expect the album to be full of cynicism and confidence, as per usual. But we’ll also get to hear about her own insecurities as she attempts to tear the wall down and be vulnerable. The album will at large be about learning and struggling to love yourself. Fans should also expect more intricate production than they’ve seen in the past. We’ll see how much King Princess has grown since “1950” hit number 22 on Billboard’s alternative charts.
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