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\n\t\u201cMy first few albums were all leading up to this in my mind,\u201d says the English artist known as Rex Orange County, speaking of his intimate yet musically fierce forthcoming album. \u201cThis is exactly what I\u2019ve always wanted to make.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAptly titled The Alexander Technique<\/em>, out Sept. 6 on RCA, the album does indeed feel like a defining work. Rex (born Alexander O\u2019Connor) started the project back in 2020, around the same time he was crafting his third album, Who Cares<\/em>?, on which he worked almost exclusively with Dutch musician and songwriter Benny Sings.<\/p>\n \n\tFor Alexander<\/em>, the 26-year-old artist took an entirely different approach. Enlisting his \u201ctwo best friends,\u201d Jim Reed and Teo Halm, Rex welcomed more collaborators than ever before \u2013 particularly musicians, including bass player Pino Palladino, keys players Cory Henry, Finn Carter and Reuben James and pedal steel guitarist Henry Webb-Jenkins. \u201c<\/strong>Particularly those first couple albums I was very like, \u2018Please don\u2019t touch this, I know how it should be,\u2019\u201d says Rex. \u201cThis was the first time that I had different people\u2019s ideas flying around \u2013 and way more songs.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tEventually, he realized that Who Cares <\/em>not only had to be released first, but that The Alexander Technique <\/em>deserved much more time, saying it \u201cwas more ambitious as a whole.\u201d As a result, the artist has emerged with his longest album yet, boasting a tracklist of 16 songs compared to his usual 10. \u201cI never did that before,\u201d he says of the \u201cintense\u201d experience \u2013 describing what sounds like a thorough emotional purge. \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s the <\/em>technique.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI had this weird thing for the first three years of my career where every song that came out was every song I\u2019d ever written,\u201d he continues. \u201cI had no reason to create one that wasn\u2019t gonna [make it]. I thought it would just confuse me. Which, I\u2019ll admit, it does. But [this album] has evolved so much over such a long time. The deeper you dig, the more you find.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSince the release of his critically acclaimed debut album, Apricot Princess, <\/em>in 2017 \u2013 which established Rex Orange County as a brutally honest songwriter and well-versed musician \u2013 his formulaic approach to album building has worked just fine. His 2019 project Pony <\/em>debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and placed him at the forefront of a generation that blended indie alternative-pop with raw writing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tAnd while Who Cares?<\/em> (which debuted at No. 5 on the tally) took bigger pop swings to support its more positive lyricism, Rex assures that The Alexander Technique <\/em>is where his more emotional writing from that period of time ended up. (In the fall of 2022, the artist pleaded not guilty to six charges of sexual assault; by that December, all charges were dropped.) \u201cIt felt like this album was maybe more of a diary entry \u2013 what I was getting into and the level of emotional depth,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tElsewhere, there\u2019s a personal favorite, \u201cGuitar Song,\u201d which was the first track he made with Reed and Halm. (\u201cThe way it sounds is pretty much the way it sounded on the day we made it in 2021 \u2013 it\u2019s free and the ending is mental,\u201d he says). He calls \u201cLook Me In the Eyes,\u201d on which he collaborated with James Blake, \u201cthe most heartbreaking song I\u2019ve ever heard.\u201d And on standout \u201cTherapy,\u201d he speaks of entering the industry at 17 and therapy at 22 \u2013 \u201cand no, I don\u2019t regret a thing,\u201d he sings. \u201cI came up, I fell down, and then I found peace.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDespite the lengthy runtime, clocking in at just over 50 minutes, Alexander <\/em>is a masterclass in being succinct, with its opening song \u201cAlexander\u201d \u2013 the first song Rex wrote for this album \u2013 as the most perfect example. On the near-five-minute song, Rex speak-sings over the piano, as if filling time in between songs at an intimate, dim-lit jazz bar. (Stevie Wonder is a favorite of his.)\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt was written quite quickly, and that doesn\u2019t always happen for me,\u201d he says of the song, in which he recounts the true story of a frustrating visit to the doctor\u2019s office in 2019. While there, he complained of ongoing back pain, only to be told it was more likely stress and anger and an unsettled mind that was causing him to hurt. \u201cIn a weird way, I feel like maybe he was right\/I may be using my back pain to distract from the pain of life\/Feel it all externally when really it\u2019s just inside,\u201d sings Rex.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI don\u2019t want a whole album of five-minute stories of me talking over piano, but I do want every song to feel this concise and thoughtful,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I was setting myself up for quite a task.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tUltimately, \u201cAlexander\u201d helped set the tone of the entire album, down to its double entendre of a title. While there is an Alexander Technique \u2013 known to help with inner balance, both mentally and physically as a focus of the practice is posture \u2013 Rex says that writing this album was what ultimately made him stronger in the end. \u201cAs much as I really do still have terrible posture, it was more so being honest \u2013 that\u2019s my actual Alexander Technique,\u201d he says. \u201cMe being myself rather than Rex Orange County.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe plans to translate that shift to his upcoming tour, calling it (much like the album) his most ambitious show to date. He\u2019s been rehearsing since June, sharing that \u201c2008\u201d \u2013 a thumping upbeat song with glitchy falsetto harmonies \u2013 has been especially fun to play live, while \u201cNew Years\u201d has come the most naturally. He also teases plans to switch it up at each show \u2013 and while that could mean anything from a different set list to a surprise song \u00e0 la Taylor Swift, he keeps most details private for now.<\/p>\n \n\tThe trek will hit select theaters in cities including Chicago, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles and London for mini residencies \u2013 likely a one-off for this album, he says \u2013 allowing for a more involved set that will be \u201chighly linked to one of the visual locations\u201d seen in his music videos. \u201cThe stage is linked with where I\u2019ve been wanting to transport you as a listener,\u201d he says. \u201c[To a] more relaxing state,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tConsidering how much of an artistic statement The Alexander Technique <\/em>is, Rex admits it does \u201cweirdly\u201d feel like some sort of end. \u201cYou have a different perspective,\u201d he says of being in his mid-20s and having worked in the industry for a near-decade. \u201cIt\u2019s not the end of the era, but I definitely feel a different level of awareness and maturity, maybe,\u201d he says. \u201cI still love music and I want to keep making music \u2013 and<\/em> I want to keep changing it up. That\u2019s the most important thing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSeemingly tied for first place, however, is his newfound penchant for prioritizing himself. As he sings, succinctly as ever, on \u201cTherapy\u201d: \u201cI recharged \u2013 and returned.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n