Chappell Roan teases "gritty" new single and gives update on second album

Chappell Roan has given an update on brand new music, and how work is proceeding on her forthcoming second album. 

Following the massive breakout success of Good Luck, Babe! and the knock-on effect of helping Chappell's first record, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, become a bondafide smash, months out from its original release, all eyes will be on the queer pop icon 's next move.

But anyone hoping for an immediate new banger to fall in love with, or even a new album to obsess over this winter, will be a little disappointed. Sorry!

In a wide-ranging new cover feature with Rolling Stone, Chappell didn't give many hints about when we can expect a follow-up single, but it sounds like things are definitely in the works, with construction of her second studio album already underway.

According to the Midwest Princess herself, her and main collaborator Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo, Sky Ferreira) have already completed "5 or 6" new songs for her sophomore LP, and following the conclusion of The Midwest Princess Tour this autumn, she'll have "from November to mid-May" off to write new material.

As for what that new material is sounding like? It seems that Chappell and Nigro are following whatever muse takes them, one song they've completed as a dance vibe, another is more 80s influenced, and one that's entirely acoustic.

Many fans who have attended Chappell's shows within the last few months (or watched clips from said shows religiously online) will have noticed that she's already started teasing one unreleased track called The Subway, a sonic cousin to her song Casual, talking about a serendipitous encounter with a potential love interest on, you guessed it, the subway in New York!

But while you may have assumed The Subway would function as the logical follow-up single to Good Luck, Babe!...apparently you would be wrong!

Chappell clarified that, while she enjoys performing The Subway live, she doesn't think it'll be her next single. 

"I don’t know what’s next," she told Rolling Stone. "I just like performing [The Subway]. I have two more [new songs] that I really want to perform too [...] I usually have an answer, but I don't think it's The Subway."

Yet, Chappell did hint that she knows exactly what kind of song she has to release after Good Luck, Babe's life-changing success, hinting that her next release will have to have more "grit" and take cues from the likes of Lady Gaga and Joan Jett.

Colour us intrigued! 

Good Luck, Babe! is out now via Island. Chappell Roan's UK tour starts next week - more on that here.