After Midnight (Chappell Roan song)

"After Midnight" is a song by the American singer and songwriter Chappell Roan from her debut studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (2023).

Chappell Roan left her hometown in Willard, Missouri, and moved to Los Angeles in 2018 to pursue a career as a singer; she met the producer Dan Nigro there and they started collaborating by the end of 2020.

[8] Music journalists identified it as a sensual disco,[9][10] neo-disco,[11] dance,[12] funk,[13] and pop song,[14] where Roan sings in the whistle register.

[17][18] The first verse mentions her internalized shame regarding her sexuality during her adolescence ("My mama said, 'Nothing good happens/ When it's late and you're dancing alone'/ She's in my head saying, 'It's not attractive/ Wearing that dress and red lipstick'").

Adam Maidment of the Manchester Evening News described it as a "chant-worthy anthem",[21] and Neil Z. Yeung from AllMusic praised the song as catchy for its funky production and heavy use of synthesizers.

[15] Hannah Dobrogosz from BuzzFeed dubbed it "flirty, fun, energetic, freaky, and cheeky", even though she did not personally connect with the song; she placed it last in her ranking of the album's fourteen tracks.

[11] She additionally played the track at several music festivals throughout 2024, including Boston Calling,[25] Bonnaroo,[26] Lollapalooza,[27] Osheaga,[28] Outside Lands,[29] and Austin City Limits.