By Amaya Morales
Staff Writer
English singer-songwriter Alex O’Connor sings as if he is talking to himself out loud, much like in his previous albums. Best known as Rex Orange County, he released his third studio album, “Pony,” Oct. 25. According to Billboard, the album debuted at No. 4 and has moved up to the No. 3 spot as of Nov. 3.
Before the release of “Pony,” the artist teased fans with various singles from his second album, “Apricot Princess.”
He wrote and recorded all of the songs, including the lead single “10/10” and some Frank Ocean-influenced bedroom ballads, including “Pluto Projector.”
Many of the songs follow a similar storyline of maturing and growing out of relationships with friends and lovers, and being aware of friends who take advantage of you for materialistic means. Rex Orange County often mentions his longtime girlfriend, Thea, who helps him through the hard times.
“Pony” refers to Rex Orange County’s personal growth. Like a young horse, he grows and learns from his mistakes. On “It Gets Better,” he reflects with the lyric “looking back, I guess that ignorance was a breeze/I thought I knew everything but I was naive.”
However, Thea has changed his viewpoint on the world and helped him move on from his mistakes.
The overall message from “Pony” is that life is about making mistakes and being able to learn from them in order to move on.
Overanalyzing every mistake you have made will never help you grow as a person or allow you to recognize where you go wrong.
The last song, “It’s Not the Same Anymore,” sums up the entire album as Rex Orange County realizes he has to mature and take account for the things he’s done. Nonetheless, he understands everything has changed from his past but that he’s now in a better place.
Via Sony
Rex Orange County recently released his introspective third album, ‘Pony.’
