Pony – Rex Orange County

Fans of Rex Orange County have been waiting for new work since 2017. There has been a handful of singles released since the Apricot Princess album, but not a full album. That is, until October 25th, 2019. Pony is Alex O’Connor’s third album. It has ten songs, and last for a good 33 minutes and 53 seconds. 

The album itself is good, but it doesn’t remind me of classic Rex Orange county. It doesn’t have the same lovestruck indie sound that I love Rex for. And I’m not mad at it, but I’m definitely mad at it. The songs are great by themselves, but because of the fact that Apricot Princess and Bcos U Will Never B Free came before Pony, I feel overwhelmly disappointed. The album feels like Hobo Johnston but without the spoken word poetry style, which is what makes Hobo Johnston himself. 

Some honorable mentions from the album are Face to Face, Stressed Out, Pluto Projector, Every Way, and It Gets Better. 

I think the lyrics are amazing and still feel like Rex, but the music seems wrong. The music seems like mainstream, soft, pop-ish type music; in its defense, the album has a chill and comforting aesthetic. I think all of the songs are good as a stand alone, but all together it’s just an album of love ballads and a few others. This isn’t completely a bad thing, but it was not expected from Rex. Overall the album is good, but not at all what I was expecting.