Chappell Roan - Naked In Manhattan

Oh! Pretty New Music #8

** this blog post came out on February 19, 2022 via the old website**

I’ve been a fan of Chappell Roan for quite a while now. Her songs ‘Pink Pony Club’ and ‘Love Me Anyway’ mean a lot to me and I can relate to them in one or many personal ways. There’s never a disco-dancing-in-my-bedroom night where I don’t decide to spin one of her songs.

She just released her new single ‘Naked In Manhattan’ and I had the pleasure and honour of meeting her via Zoom to interview her about  ‘Naked In Manhattan’. It absolutely was a stunning dream.

We talked about the inspiration behind the song, the process, where the perfect place to be listening to the single for the first time is and much more. 

Here she is: Chappell Roan.

Bonnie Orbison: Introduce yourself a bit where you’re coming from? What have you already released? 

Chappell Roan: I’m Chappell Roan. I’m an independent singer-songwriter. My music probably gets put into the genre of electro pop. I’m in Springfield, Missouri right now, which is my hometown, but I’m usually living in LA, California. I released an EP called ‘School Nights’ a few years ago. After that, I released three singles in 2020: ‘California’, ‘Pink Pony Club’ and ‘Love Me Anyway’. 

Bonnie: They’re so stunning. I listen to them on repeat. What is the title of your upcoming single? And when does it come out? 

Chappell: The title is ‘Naked In Manhattan’ and it comes out February 18.

Bonnie: Describe ‘Naked In Manhattan’ in three words. 

Chappell: I would say ‘curious, liberating and feminine’ 

Bonnie: Does the title have a special meaning? 

Chappell: The title just randomly came to me. We were writing it and I felt how the song should have a really wild title like ‘Naked In Manhattan’ and it is a pretty bold title. I just love New York. So that’s why I picked it. 

Bonnie: What inspired the song? What is the song about? 

Chappell: The song was inspired by my first girl crush and it’s about a girl from New York City. I’m from the Midwest and a small town, so New York City has just always been so amazing to me and I’ve always been so curious about it. It’s just so different. This song relates to having a crush on a girl or like a queer relationship at the beginning, because it’s similar to the way that New York City makes me feel, which is like, excited and kind of like, wanderlust, and it’s the same as a girl. The feeling of having a girl crush is giving me the same vibes as NYC because it’s so amazing and crazy. 

Bonnie: What did the process of making this song look like? How long did it take? 

Chappell: The song took forever to make. We started writing it in summer of 2019 and we did not finish it until the beginning of January. It’s been such a process. We rewrote the post chorus probably four to six times. I rewrote the entire song once at least. It took a long time to figure out what the feeling of the song was and it just had to be perfect. 

Bonnie: Would you say you’re satisfied now with the song? 

Chappell: Oh, yeah, for sure. I’m definitely satisfied. It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever done. 

Bonnie: That’s good. Who worked on the song with you? 

Chappell: I worked on it with a songwriter named Skyler Stonestreet who works with Dua Lipa and Sabrina Carpenter and quite a few others. But I also worked on it with Daniel Nigro, who did all of Olivia Rodrigo and most of Conan Gray. 

Bonnie: What is your favorite lyric line from it? 

Chappell: I love ‘an inch away from more than just friends’ because it’s just so true. It encapsulates the song in that one line. 

Bonnie: When the song comes out on February 18, where’s the perfect place to be for listening to it for the first time? 

Chappell: Obviously, New York City, but everyone lives there. I would say like driving in the car with your friends with the windows down at night. I think that would be really fun or like a slumber party with your friends like girls night or like getting ready to go out with your friends. The song is supposed to make you feel fun and excited. 

Bonnie: Is there a music video to it? 

Chappell: There’s a little lyric video to it. We don’t have a music video. But if the song does well and it needs a music video, then of course we’ll make one. 

Bonnie: You wanna share some details about the lyric video? 

Chappell: The lyric video is just me and my friend shooting on film, like VHS tape, and we run around New York City, so it’s really just like us having fun in New York City.

Bonnie: Can’t wait to watch it! Any honorable mentions you want to make? 

Chappell: I wrote this for queer girls who maybe are exploring their queerness or just maybe having a tough time. Like exploring queerness can be heavy sometimes and like really traumatizing to some people. I just hope to bring a lightness to that. 

Bonnie: If you’d have to put the song on a playlist with other songs, which would they be?

Naked In Manhattan is out now on all streaming platforms! Check it out : )