Album review: Rex Orange County has highs and lows on ‘Who Cares?’

Joey Perkins
Sun, 13 Mar 2022 18:22:07 +0000
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Rex Orange County during the Outside Lands Music Festival Aug. 10, 2018 in San Francisco. Credit: Courtesy of Dan Deslover/RMV/Zuma Press/TNS

UK-based indie singer-songwriter, Alex O’Connor — known as Rex Orange County — released his newest album “Who Cares?” Friday.

It comes three years after his 2019 album, “Pony.” Although he has yet to spend much time on the charts, Rex Orange County remains a musical sensation, amassing almost 14 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone at the time of his newest release. Rex Orange County is largely known for hit songs such as “Best Friend,” “Sunflower” and “Loving is Easy,” each of which has garnered more than 300 million streams on Spotify alone.

The album starts off with the upbeat “Keep It Up,” which features beautiful instrumentals flooded with strings and rhythmic drums paired with the singer’s signature, infectious vocals.

Following the introductory track comes “Open A Window (feat. Tyler, The Creator).” Although Rex Orange County sounds rather unenthused throughout the duration of the track, Tyler, The Creator delivers a memorable verse that markedly elevates the song.

“Worth It” starts off with a grand, string-heavy performance and continues the album’s hot streak. Rex Orange County enters with a captivating showing of his vocals, and he glides smoothly over the track, complimenting the instrumentals instead of overpowering them.

Although the project starts off strong, “Amazing” is not what the name implies, as it sounds far too similar to other songs in his discography to be particularly special. It consists of his signature strings and vocals but fails to resonate because of its repetitive nature and minuscule vocal range.

Rex Orange County picks up the ball dropped in the previous song with “One In A Million” and its impressive melodies and piano-filled instrumentals. Foreshadowing this project’s trend of instability comes “If You Want It” — a disappointing track with synth-heavy instrumentals and vocals that seem drowned out and repetitive.

“7AM” is a moody, downbeat track with a catchy piano instrumental and verses on Rex Orange County’s failed relationships, while the next song, “The Shade,” is a groovy, laid-back love song. Both tracks evoke somber emotions that work beautifully within the scope of the project.

“Making Time” feels like an interlude and is relatively unremarkable. The next track, “Shoot Me Down,” is another disappointing showing from Rex Orange County. Although the instrumentals pick up halfway through the track, the nearly five-minute song is too monotonous to justify its length.

The final and title track, “Who Cares?”, is not the anthemic outro listeners likely wished for. Although the lyrics focus on finding happiness and disregarding what others think, the track is as basic as can be and fails to push the envelope, ending the album without a real conclusion.

Rex Orange County has the talent of a major artist but fails to showcase it strongly on “Who Cares?” Although the project features more good than bad, the lackluster tracks plague the album with uninspired vocals and inadequate themes.

However, he does show he has the ability to make a track that resonates with listeners, and he does so especially well in the first half of “Who Cares?” There are many highs and lows throughout the project, and Rex Orange County dominates at the highs and fails at the lows, making for a rather unstable project.

Rating: 3/5