Rex Orange County’s newest album “The Alexander Technique,” is a laid back and musical journey of self reflection. The final song culminates in a troubled soul able to “Finally” let go as Alex O’Connor sings with a free spirit.
The album’s opening track “Alexander” — a reference to both Rex Orange County singer’s nickname ‘Alex’ and the title of the album — sets up the next 15 songs, introducing the primary theme of O’Connor’s personal journey of pain and healing, while also introducing the album’s primary musical themes.
“Alexander” prepares the listener for a gentle and relaxed journey through O’Connor’s mental health story, its softness foreshadowing a happy ending. The opening notes sound on a dampened piano, acoustic and pleasant, so that when O’Connor’s voice enters it is surprisingly jarring. The lyrics and mixture of sung and spoken delivery can be clunky, but O’Connor’s direct lyricism is the only weak point of the album and is at its worst in the first song.
Although “Alexander” is somewhat barebones and awkward, the rest of the album is more musically intriguing and satisfying; the remaining tracks are full of memorable moments and melodies. Throughout the album O’Connor uses a wide range of instruments and every violin, cello, flute, sax, and horn add an interesting dimensionality and beauty to the sound. The over-directness of “Alexander’s” lyrics does not resurface much in the remaining tracks, instead giving way to more poetic songs like “The Table,” “Pure,” “One of These Days,” and “Carrera.”
O’Connor’s personal journey is recounted explicitly in his lyrics and can become lost in the excitement of his musicality, but, when paid attention to, his lyrics track an introspective and cathartic journey which includes a wide range of familiar lows: stress-induced physical ailments, failing drivers’ tests, hitting what feels like rock bottom and being pulled out by friends and family, and finally learning how to make your way back to your true self.
Catching the details of this storyline requires listening to O’Connor’s voice, but the best parts of the album often occur when the instrumentation takes center stage and treats the listener to some wonderful little kaleidoscopes of sounds and textures. The final track “Finally” veers into a poppy, hip-hop but ethereal sound very different from the first track “Alexander,” but in a complementary rather than dissonant way. “Finally” has a melody played on a lone piano reminiscent of track one and this brings the album’s arc of self-discovery and search for freedom to a satisfying, hopeful ending.
More energetic than “Alexander Technique,” Hobo Johnson’s 2019 album “The Fall of Hobo Johnson” provides a similar but more dramatic feel; for something more subtle and poetic, Bright Eyes’ 2005 album “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” is worth a listen; and for more soaring instrumentals paired with a darker inner turmoil, Black Country, New Road’s 2022 album “Ants From Up There” is deeply satisfying.
I spent much of my repeat listening of O’Connor’s album wishing it sounded more like the albums listed above and turning to them after finishing my obligatory daily listen — or third daily listen — of “Alexander Technique.”
But on what must have been my 20th listen, laying on a picnic table on campus last Sunday afternoon, watching the sunlight through the swaying leaves above, “Alexander Technique” won me over. O’Connor’s sound is not a milquetoast mixture of other, more exciting artists; it is soft, jazzy, melodic, slice-of-life, and, most importantly, its own.