Chappell Roan Says It Feels ‘Bold & Scary’ to Step Into Country Music With ‘The Giver’

Chappell Roan gets the job done, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t scary sometimes. In a new post celebrating the release of her new single, “The Giver,” the singer-songwriter gave an honest look at her feelings toward pivoting to a country sound on the track and revealed she feels nervous about taking the leap.

Sharing photos of the various alternate cover photos for the single — as well as a throwback picture of herself as a tween wearing cowboy boots — Roan told fans on Instagram Thursday night (March 13) that she’s “so excited” for the song to “come to life.” “I love this song so much,” she wrote. “It’s been such a fun rollout to see the bus benches and billboards and posters and tear-offs wow.”

The Missouri native went on to say she feels like it’s “def a bold and scary move to release a full ass country song after only releasing one song last year and it having such a success in the pop genre.”

“Like I am very scared as I type this lol,” she added in parentheses. “But I think that’s the entire point of chappell roan. Be bold and scary and have fun. be popstar girl then pop an edible +watch YouTube vibes. The whole point of this is to be silly !!!”

Roan released “Good Luck, Babe!” in April 2024, kickstarting her meteoric rise to pop superstardom over the course of last summer. The track — which marked her first release since 2023 debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess — reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking her highest peak on the chart so far.

Up until Friday’s “The Giver” drop, Roan hadn’t released a new song since “Good Luck, Babe!” And while the latter leaned retro dance pop, the new song is distinctly country, with the Grammy winner boasting through a twangy drawl, “‘Cause you ain’t got to tell me it’s just in my nature/ So take it like a taker,
’cause, baby, I’m a giver.”

Roan previously opened up about embracing a different sound in an Instagram post earlier this month, explaining that the new style didn’t necessarily mean she was making a “country album.” “Right now I’m just making songs that make me feel happy and fun and The Giver is my take on c–try xoxo may the classic country divas lead their genre, I am just here to twirl and do a little gay yodel for yall,” she wrote at the time.

In Friday’s post, Roan elaborated on her love for the genre. “Country music is fire,” she wrote. “It’s the campiest of camp. some of you may be new to the country scene and not quite sure what to make of me having a fiddle and banjo in my song. Understandable boo … it is something different and sometimes different can feel bad because it’s unfamiliar, but I encourage you to give her another shot ;)”

She added, “Thank you to all the country divas who came before me.”