# Casual (song)
"Casual" is a song by the American singer [Chappell Roan](https://www.edgepedia.org/chappell-roan), released as a single on 28 October 2022 and later included as the fifth track on her debut album, *The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess* (September 2023). Written by Roan (Kayleigh Rose Amstutz) with Daniel Nigro and Morgan St. Jean, it is a slow-building ballad about a "situationship": a relationship that is emotionally and physically intimate for one partner but deliberately left undefined by the other.[1](https://storyofsong.com/story/casual/) • [2](https://www.iamchappellroan.com/albumcredits/) • [3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/chappell-roan-casual/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist | Chappell Roan, the stage name of Kayleigh Rose Amstutz[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/chappell-roan-casual/) |
| Release | Single on 28 October 2022, self-released at the time; fifth track on *The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess* (September 2023)[1](https://storyofsong.com/story/casual/) • [3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/chappell-roan-casual/) |
| Writers and producers | Written by Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Daniel Nigro, and Morgan St. Jean; produced by Daniel Nigro and Ryan Linvill[2](https://www.iamchappellroan.com/albumcredits/) |
| Subject | A partner who insists on no commitment despite shared intimacy; Roan described it as drawn from a pandemic-era online relationship that ended with the other person calling it "casual"[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/chappell-roan-casual/) • [4](https://apnews.com/article/aa86d43c640feb33cb471894bedb7a0e) |
| Music video | Released 9 March 2023, directed by Hadley Hillel[1](https://storyofsong.com/story/casual/) |
| Later charting | Two years after release: No. 94 in Australia, No. 77 in Canada, No. 96 in Ireland, No. 76 on the US Billboard Hot 100[1](https://storyofsong.com/story/casual/) |
## Release and production
Roan wrote "Casual" with Daniel Nigro, the songwriter and producer she began working with after being dropped by [Atlantic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-records) in 2020, and with Morgan St. Jean. Nigro produced the track with Ryan Linvill, who also played bass; Sterling Laws played drums and Nigro played guitar and sang background vocals. The recording was mixed by Michael Coleman and mastered by Randy Merrill.[2](https://www.iamchappellroan.com/albumcredits/)
The single arrived during Roan's independent period, after the May 2022 releases "Naked in Manhattan" and "My Kink is Karma" and before "[Femininomenon](https://www.edgepedia.org/femininomenon)." During this stretch she promoted her songs on TikTok and Instagram and opened for [Olivia Rodrigo](https://www.edgepedia.org/olivia-rodrigo) and Fletcher, and "Casual" began picking up steam online.[5](https://www.biography.com/musicians/a61100342/how-did-chappell-roan-get-famous) • [6](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/chappell-roan-big-diy-indie-170000851.html) A music video directed by Hadley Hillel followed on 9 March 2023.[1](https://storyofsong.com/story/casual/) When the album project grew too large to remain independent, Roan signed with Nigro's Amusement Records, an imprint under [Island Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/island-records), in May 2023, and "Casual" appeared on the debut album that September.[5](https://www.biography.com/musicians/a61100342/how-did-chappell-roan-get-famous) • [1](https://storyofsong.com/story/casual/)
## Lyrics and inspiration
The song tests the logic of a partner who insists on no attachment. Its central image, "Knee deep in the passenger seat and you're eating me out/Is it casual now?", sits alongside a list of domestic intimacies offered as evidence that the relationship is more than a fling: long calls with the lover's sibling and invitations to their family beach house.[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/chappell-roan-casual/) NPR's review highlighted the same specificity, noting the "blurry images of future domesticity" and the "eternal miscalculation of clinging to sex as a stand-in for emotional intimacy."[7](https://www.klcc.org/npr-music/npr-music/2022-10-27/chappell-roan-casual)
Roan explained the origin in an interview with the Associated Press: she had begun a long-distance, virtual relationship during the pandemic in which the other person called her their "dream girl," and after they met in person the person ended things, telling a mutual friend it was nothing because it was "casual." "It wasn't casual for me," she said. "I had created this entire nonexistent relationship."[4](https://apnews.com/article/aa86d43c640feb33cb471894bedb7a0e)
## Reception
Pitchfork's Jane Bua reviewed the single on 3 November 2022, categorizing it as Pop/R&B and describing how it "builds with Roan's resentment," with stacked vocals in the chorus giving it "the flavor of a Chicks song." She read the song as capturing a common reality: pretending to be a "chill girl" seems better than losing the other person, until self-directed resentment sets in.[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/chappell-roan-casual/) NPR placed the song among its weekly picks, calling it a familiar story told through smartly phrased specifics about lovers with incompatible desires.[7](https://www.klcc.org/npr-music/npr-music/2022-10-27/chappell-roan-casual)
## Afterlife
"Casual" outlived its initial release cycle. NPR music writer and Tiny Desk Concert co-creator Stephen Thompson first listened to Roan in 2022, when a colleague recommended the early single.[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2024/07/25/chappell-roan-rise/) As Roan's fame grew through 2024, the two-year-old track entered charts: No. 76 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 77 in Canada, No. 94 in Australia, and No. 96 in Ireland, as of August 2024.[1](https://storyofsong.com/story/casual/)
## References
1. [The devastating story behind Chappell Roan's "Casual", Story of Song](https://storyofsong.com/story/casual/)
2. [Album Credits, Chappell Roan official site](https://www.iamchappellroan.com/albumcredits/)
3. [Chappell Roan: "Casual" Track Review, Jane Bua, Pitchfork, November 3, 2022](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/chappell-roan-casual/)
4. [A conversation with Chappell Roan, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/aa86d43c640feb33cb471894bedb7a0e)
5. [How Did Chappell Roan Get Famous?, Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/musicians/a61100342/how-did-chappell-roan-get-famous)
6. [Chappell Roan's Big Year, Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/chappell-roan-big-diy-indie-170000851.html)
7. [Chappell Roan, 'Casual', NPR Music via KLCC](https://www.klcc.org/npr-music/npr-music/2022-10-27/chappell-roan-casual)
8. [How Chappell Roan became a star, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2024/07/25/chappell-roan-rise/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Pop songs › Pop songs of the 2020s › 2022 and 2023 songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license