Okay I said it. Rex Orange County is officially the master of creating simplistic, smooth yet anxious, gooey love songs. “PONY” is his first full length record with his new label Sony and it certainly hits you right in the feels.
The record is short and sweet with only 10 songs. Although it’s short in length it still leaves you with a healthy dose of melody and jaunty pianos. “10/10” starts the record. An up tempo tune about getting your shit together. Rex’s vocals on the track have cleverly been processed through a robotic vocoder which suits the nature of the tune down to a tee.
My only issue with the album is that Rex uses his two trump cards straight out the gate. The first two tracks are the strongest by a long stretch. “Always” is a perfect example of his unique nasally sounding voice sitting perfectly on top of a melody and plush grand instrumentation fit for any disney film.
Although the blueprint is still the same, this album feels like a step ahead from his previous releases lyrically and sonically. Lyrically, he addresses his personal battles with depression and introspectively discussing his relationships. Whilst sonically, he experiments with nearly every song on this record, the instrumentation and structures are worlds away from his lo-fi bedroom pop days.
Overall, Pony is resilient and inspiring in it’s nature. And full proof evidence that you can evolve as an artist musically whilst also figuring out your personal problems. So Kudos for that Rex.
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