Princess Chelsea rules, and here’s the proof
Helium pop straight outta Auckland.
The FADER's weekly column What Rules highlights our office's new obsessions.
Who are they?
Name: Princess Chelsea
Style: "Nancy Sinatra for the Shazam era."
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Why should I listen?
In 2011, Princess Chelsea went super-viral, to the tune of 42 million YouTube views, with "The Cigarette Duet," a kooky lovers'-quarrel-turned-song about smoking. Since then, the Auckland, New Zealand singer, songwriter, and producer has released a couple of albums that retain her mid-century pop-inspired style. Her latest, last month's The Loneliest Girl, was my introduction to Princess Chelsea, and thank God! She makes sardonic helium pop, all airy vocals floating over sparsely arranged instrumentation, and it's delightful. My co-worker and friend Jordan Darville described her as "Nancy Sinatra for the Shazam era" and, well, yeah!
Where should I start?