Rex Orange County talks loving ABBA and chilling with Tyler, the Creator

[R]ex Orange County makes songs that feel familiar. That’s not to say he isn’t original though, just that the style of music he creates possesses a kind of classic simplicity – melodies that feel discovered rather than composed. Rex – real name Alex O’Connor – was born in 1998 (the same year Google started, a phenomenon that would change the course of the music industry). He grew up in Haslemere, a quiet market town just outside Surrey, surrounded by countryside and an hour out of London via public transport.

“The albums that I heard a lot were ABBA, Queen and a lot of musical theatre songs,” he says, thinking back to the sounds he was raised on. “I latched on to those melodies and those harmonies and the structure. I have a lot of time for that kind of music; I’ve found myself writing songs in that vein for sure.”

Rex eventually moved out of Haslemere to London to start at The BRIT School, a training ground for British hit-makers with imagination. Suddenly widening his gaze onto an even broader musical cosmos, he was quickly inspired to create. “I came to London and found out about so much that a lot of people already knew about. I was ignorant to so much stuff and suddenly I knew all about it, which inspired me to make music myself.”

top/ LIAM HODGES X FILA // trousers / LANVIN // trainers / CONVERSE // ring / REX’S OWN //

That buzz of discovery and creativity eventually bloomed into bcos u will never b free, Rex’s debut mixtape, which came out in the summer of 2015. On Bandcamp it’s labelled as “a bedroom album by Rex” – it definitely carries a certain sketchbook, introverted, lo-fi charm that the “bedroom pop” tag brings to mind. But there’s a grandeur to Rex’s songs and an essential freedom to the way in which he traverses genres and styles, which makes you want to lift the blinds and let the light in. Cloudy dream-pop melodies are delivered with colourful, jazzy instrumentation and splashed with the candid sensibilities of hip-hop and R&B. It’s like Paul Simon meeting Frank Ocean, or Elliott Smith jamming with Janet Jackson.

But there’s an emotional core to all of his music. Take “Loving Is Easy” – a dewy-eyed pop song about never wanting your soulmate to change now that you’ve found them. The song came complete with a video where a stop-frame animated Rex performs the track as day turns to night in a cosy-looking living room. Like the track, the video is sweet, maybe even a little twee. But there’s a sincerity to Rex when he sings these plain-spoken love songs, which can’t be pretended.

shirt / LANVIN // t-shirt / LIFE’S A BEACH // jeans / LIAM HODGES // trainers / NIKE // ring / REX’S OWN

“Me and [Tyler, the creator] definitely have a shared passion for certain chords or melodies – that’s why we were able to bond.”

Retweet this quote

It’s a formula that he poured into Apricot Princess, his self-released album, which came out in April 2017. His knack for writing daydreamy love songs blossomed on “Sycamore Girl”, which featured backing vocals from his IRL sweetheart Thea. “It’s how I feel in comparison to how I felt just before I released music for the first time,” he says, unpicking the optimism that underpins the record. “I wasn’t particularly happy, but so much has changed since then. I’m in a relationship with someone that I’m really happy with, and there are people on the other side of the world listening to my music.”

That global audience grew considerably last summer when Rex featured on two tracks on Tyler, the Creator’s Flower Boy. He’d always been a big fan of Tyler and there’s a case for saying they they’re kindred spirits – both bedroom producers with theatrical ambitions, both music nerds from the outskirts of the city with a good sense of humour. “He emailed me directly last summer; I think he was just looking for fresh voices. I’m not saying I’m fresh or anything!” he laughs. “He just wanted things that were new to him… and maybe to the world.”

Rex’s sound slots in perfectly to the fresh, airy vista Tyler paints on Flower Boy. First on the cinematic opener then again on the irresistible “Boredom” – a catchy ode to long days and loose ends. “Me and him definitely have a shared passion for certain chords or melodies – that’s why we were able to bond,” Rex says of the collaboration. “Even though he’s a great artist and a very famous person, when you’re in a room with him you realise he’s just a human and everyone’s doing the same thing.”

hoodie / STONE ISLAND // ring / REX’S OWN

And as his star rises, Rex continues to find himself working with his contemporaries. He wound up playing guitar for Frank Ocean at a couple of Frank’s much talked-about festival dates last summer; he also helped Skepta open up the 2017 Mercury Prize ceremony, playing guitar for the ferocious Queens of the Stone Age riff which gets sampled on Man. “I definitely feel like a solo guy at heart, but I love working with other people,” Rex says, reflecting on sharing a stage with a small cast of heroes. “It’s ideal, I’m just playing guitar, and I love the songs I’m playing.”

During the same week as our conversation, Rex is announced as the second place runner-up in the BBC’s Sound of 2018 poll. The poll has an illustrious history of identifying superstars-inwaiting and accelerating their ascent. It’s another indelible mark of approval for Rex, an artist who only properly started writing and recording music three years ago.

I ask him – in light of the buzz that surrounds him – what he’s hoping to achieve over the next 12 months of his career. His response is straightforward: “The goal is to make another album. I don’t think it will come out this year, it will come when it comes,” he says, calmly.

Rex Orange County’s debut album, Apricot Princess, is out now. Interview taken from HUNGER #14.