Rex Orange County’s Latest Album

Rex Orange County’s fourth studio album, WHO CARES?, was released on March 11th. The songs were written as a spur-of-the-moment idea during a ten day trip to Amsterdam. Due to this, Rex believes that it’s not as polished as other works he has released in the past.

“To me the whole thing sounds and feels a bit looser, not as tightened to perfection… I guess it’s somewhat more authentic — I would often run with the first thought and execute the idea there and then and not question what it was or what it meant,” Rex said.

While making the album, Rex had the opportunity to collaborate with another artist in the song “OPEN A WINDOW”. The artist in question; Tyler, The Creator; is someone that has inspired Rex and helped him in his musical career.

“I remember once when I was struggling a lot to find inspiration, and was also very stressed about what other people were thinking, ironically. I was having a tough time making music freely, and he gave me a lot of great advice,” Rex said.

Writing music may seem simple, but the process is much more difficult than it looks at surface level. It can be easy to stress about such a difficult task, which is why artists often need to take a step back and re-examine their works. Rex’s solution to this issue is to not overthink how others will see the finished product.

“It felt like I didn’t really want to think about too much, like what other people would be thinking of it. Just look at it like, ‘Who cares?’ ,” Rex said.

Despite the spontaneity of the Album’s creation, WHO CARES?  has some deeper meanings. One notable message in several of the songs is the importance of self-love. As a person who has struggled with this topic, Rex wanted to convey the significance of being kind to oneself.

“I’ve done a lot of hating myself, and I know how easy it is to be mad at yourself. The worst thing I’ve ever said was to myself. I’m just trying to spread this message to let people know that it’s okay to be nice to yourself and that you don’t have to change anything about yourself,” Rex said.

Everyone has struggled with self-love at some point in their life, so this album’s theme is something that many people have needed to hear. Rex Orange County will be taking this alum out on tour later this year, spreading the message even further.