By Guy Marcham, Deputy Music Editor
We get it – you go to Bristol, like to cuff your baggy fit jeans, wear quarter zip fleeces and swig cans of Red Stripe. But what’s the fascination with Rex Orange County?
The singer-songwriter who blends piano led pop sheen with neo-soul rhythms has somewhat become a poster-boy for the self-confessed ‘hipster’ kid. Alex O’Connor AKA Rex Orange Country – seems to clutter the Spotify playlists and reverberate through the apple headphones of nearly every pretentious late teen. Yet, behind his chilled and breezy soundscape lies something that’s nothing short of soppy, sterile and lyrically empty. Equipped with a pedal board and a spiky adolescent teen bristle – Rex is far from special. Any unique creative flair is traded for shallow song-writing with the emotional depth of a crisp packet. New album, Pony, is simply put – a Michael Bublé album dressed up for pretentious kids instead of 50-year-old mums.
‘Laser Lights’ sees Rex embody an Ed Sheeran esque hip hop verse while backed by a vaguely intriguing set of horns and flutes. Even the songwriter’s biggest hit, ‘Loving is Easy’, represents a sanguine and cringeworthy attempt at delivering a timeless ‘good time’ vibe fit for summer BBQ’s and chilled hangouts. Am I missing something? Since when did releasing painfully corny summertime tunes and even Valentine’s day themed singles such as ‘New House’, become cool?
It’s depressing to look back on previous youth cultures – the vehement and boundless energy of punk in the late 1970s, the glorious and self-deprecating 90s anthems provided by Blur and Pulp and the off-kilter buoyancy of mid noughties Franz Ferdinand - where did it all go wrong? Fast-forward to 2019 and the sense of energy, artistic creativity and counter-culture is gone. Instead, what’s left is a politically absent adoration of Rex Orange County and his mix of endless upbeat pop balladry. As if Jamie Cullum had worked out how to use Logic.
With his boyish spiky facial hair and knack for writing innocent and loved up songs – Rex Orange County has attracted a devoted following. Teens flock to his shows for an evening of mind-numbingly mild balladry and sickly schmaltz. In a time of real social worry and years of Tory rule – why is the ‘chilled’ plastic groove of Rex proving so popular while the true angst driven bite and social awareness of IDLES and Fontaines DC seems to only be appreciated by older middle-aged fans?
An obsession I’ll never quite understand. Rex Orange County is nothing more than a pony for hipster kids to ride on until they come to the age where it’s socially acceptable to crack on Heart radio and listen to Gary Barlow.
