walking upstream…
Rex Orange County
photo: skyguy711 · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Rex Orange County
Alexander James O'Connor, a self-taught multi-instrumentalist from Grayshott, England, began releasing warm, jazz-inflected bedroom pop as Rex Orange County while still a teenager at the BRIT School, pairing homemade drum-and-piano production with unguarded, diary-entry lyrics. A pair of writing credits on Tyler, the Creator's Flower Boy (2017) pulled him out of self-released SoundCloud obscurity and into a major-label deal, and the albums that followed -- Apricot Princess (2017), Pony (2019), and the UK No. 1 Who Cares? (2022) -- built him into one of British pop's most recognizable bedroom-to-arena stories.
the sound in question
2017
Best FriendRex Orange County
walk the tributaries ↓
Stevie Wonder1970s · Soul / Funk / R&B
O'Connor has said the Apricot Princess title track 'wouldn't exist' without Wonder's 'Another Star,' and he's described the harmonic target he's chasing across his catalogue as 'Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones-type chords.'
1976
Another StarStevie Wonder
2017
Apricot PrincessRex Orange County
listen forSeventh and ninth chords gliding under a simple, optimistic vocal melody -- jazz and pop sitting together without either one announcing itself.
Frank Ocean2010s · Alternative R&B / Hip hop
O'Connor named channel ORANGE among the first three albums where he 'enjoyed every song,' and early profiles of his self-released tapes routinely placed his hushed, conversational delivery 'in the same arena' as Ocean's Blonded-radio balladry.
2012
Thinkin Bout YouFrank Ocean
2019
Pluto ProjectorRex Orange County
listen forPlainspoken, almost-spoken-word verses, and a mix that leaves open space around the vocal instead of filling every bar.
Jeff Rosenstock2010s-20s · punk rock / pop punk / ska punk / indie rock / power pop
In a 2017 MTV UK interview, O'Connor named Rosenstock alongside Stevie Wonder and Frank Ocean as 'the first three artists that released albums where I enjoyed every song,' crediting all three as the foundation of 'the Rex music.'
2015
Novelty SweaterJeff Rosenstock
2015
Corduroy DreamsRex Orange County
listen forThe unpolished, diary-entry directness and homemade production of Rosenstock's DIY records, echoed in the lo-fi, self-produced tracks O'Connor put out before he had a label or a proper studio.