For all the anxieties he recounts - in person, he was reluctant to say more than he does in the songs - the album actually strikes a gently uplifting note thanks to Rex’s handsome melodies and the buoyant grooves he devised with producer Ben Baptie there’s also the comfort he clearly takes in singing about Morgan-Murrell, as in “Face to Face,” in which he recalls how “she calmed me down that night I freaked out.” What persuades you that he’s truly made peace with his situation is the fact that “Pony” isn’t a total downer. “And I definitely wouldn’t be staying at this hotel.” “But without that stuff, I couldn’t have filled the Roxy with two days’ notice.” He shrugged. “I can tell you all the bad things - and I do on the album,” he said at the Chateau as a server delivered a tray of fancy breakfast sandwiches. Indeed, the night before our talk, he played a hastily announced gig at the Roxy in West Hollywood, where several hundred fans hung on every word of his new tunes and sang along loudly with favorites like the jazzy “ Sunflower” and “ Loving Is Easy,” one of many songs he’s written about his girlfriend, Thea Morgan-Murrell, who contributes backup vocals on “Pony.” Making “Pony” was the “therapy” he needed to work through his complicated feelings about success, he said now, having removed unnamed shady folks from his life - “Sometimes you’ve got to cut a bitch out,” he sings - he’s trying to focus on the positive aspects of pop stardom, not least having a sizable audience for music born from a DIY impulse. “But this song will grab their attention.” Most of her listeners are probably unfamiliar with Rex, she figures. “This feels like a big move for him,” said iHeart’s Lisa Worden, who oversees the company’s alternative stations and programs L.A.’s Alt 98.7. ![]() 18 with Billie Eilish and the Black Keys - an indication of alternative radio’s embrace of the catchy “10/10,” which can suggest a more soulful, offbeat Ed Sheeran. ![]() After the latter, he’ll stick around town to play iHeartRadio’s Alter Ego concert at the Forum on Jan. Last month Rex performed “10/10” on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show, and he’s already sold out early 2020 dates at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium. Rex’s first effort for a major label (following two albums he released himself online), “Pony” is slicker than his older, scrappier stuff, with lush horn and string arrangements and slinky yet muscular bass playing by Pino Palladino, who’s known for his work with John Mayer and D’Angelo. ![]() Ironically, this record about the troubling reality of fame is poised to bring him only more. “The whole experience, it just turned out differently than I expected,” he said. Seated on the patio of the Chateau Marmont, the singer - born Alex O’Connor he got his stage name from a teacher who referred to him as “the O.C.” - sighed as he smoothed the mustache that keeps him from looking even more boyish than he does.
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