WHO CARES? / Rex Orange County / March 11, 2022
- Joshua Yoo
- Mar 24, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 22, 2022
There’s nothing like self-encouragement and self-acceptance to pull yourself out of a pit of hardships. On ‘WHO CARES?,’ Alex O’Connor (Rex Orange County) channels this empowerment into a notably bright and positive thematic focus, leaning on his stylistic strengths to curate a sound sure to uplift even the most solemn listener.
Enlisting the help of Benny Sings for executive production guides the musical direction of the album in a sweet and tender instrumental direction, as clearly evidenced by the orchestral string sections laced all throughout the tracklist. The consistently sentimental and sweeping pop balladry works to convey Rex’s straightforward lyricism almost to a fault, finding power in the simplicity of the arrangement, but also tedium over time.
The few efforts Rex makes to vary the sonic palette of the album struggle to stick their landing, where tracks such as “IF YOU WANT IT” come across too one-dimensional to build on its interesting ideas, and others like “MAKING TIME” don’t have enough meat on their bone to be fulfilling tracks on their own. It’s clear that when Rex sticks to the stylistic strengths of his and his collaborators’ fortes, the simplicity of the tracks’ arrangement can accomplish quite a bit more, the infectiously encouraging opening track “KEEP IT UP” perhaps the greatest example of this.
And as a whole, although the simple and straightforward nature of ‘WHO CARES?’ doesn’t blaze the trail for its specific genre (and may not please many fans because of it), it isn’t meant to in the first place. Rather, it provides a shoulder to lean on that people need, including Rex himself, every so often when things get tough.
Highlight(s): OPEN A WINDOW, ONE IN A MILLION, KEEP IT UP, AMAZING
Lowlight(s): IF YOU WANT IT, THE SHADE
SCORE: 6/10
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