Cheap Queen
Cheap Queen is the debut studio album by American pop singer-songwriter King Princess, released on October 25, 2019, through Mark Ronson's imprint of Columbia Records, Zelig Records. A deluxe edition of the album with five additional tracks was released on February 14, 2020. Straus began a tour in support of the album on September 20. Background. The album was written chronologically, with Straus stating that she named the album "Cheap Queen" after the drag term for a queen that is "resourceful, making something out of not very much". While Straus started her career with songs like  1950 and "Pussy Is God", "The Guardian" remarked that she swaps out those "queer pop anthems for understated ballads". Straus explained that the album's sound came about as she was "dealing with the most vulnerable year of my life" after the popularity of "1950", as she was under "complete stress and anxiety, and not knowing what to do with myself or with my body, and then also being in love". Straus released a deluxe edition of "Cheap Queen" on February 14, 2020, which included five new songs. Critical reception. "Cheap Queen" received universal acclaim from music critics. On review  aggregate site Metacritic the album received a rating of 81 out of 100 from 13 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The album's sound has been compared to the works of Prince, Morrissey, Richard Hawley, Lily Allen, Madonna, Lorde, James Blake, Robyn, Imogen Heap, Fiona Apple, Billie Eilish, Maggie Rogers, Clairo, and Janis Joplin. Matt Collar of "Allmusic" praised how Straus examines themes of gender and sexuality "with a low-key sensuality that combines masculine hip-hop confidence with a soulful, feminist point-of-view". Max Gayler of "The Line of Best Fit" praised the album's "eclectic instrumentation and bold  production" and the "one-two punch" of the album's closing two tracks, saying "King Princess hasn't reinvented pop, but she is bridging its most exciting chasms." Aimee Cliff of "The Guardian" complimented the "funk-driven" "Hit the Back", as well as King Princess's voice, which Cliff described as "often intimately close in the mix, brushing up against your ear, unglamorous and unadorned."