One of the most accurate neologisms of recent times is softboi: a certain kind of earnestly poetic, puppyish but slightly damaged young man you’d meet on swipe-based dating apps. They have found their patron saint in Rex Orange County, 21-year-old English singer-songwriter Alexander O’Connor.
The breezy romance of his defining hit thus far, Loving is Easy, has curdled. “I care about you, in every way I can”, he sings, and it feels more like a caveat than an assurance. He has commitment issues on Never Had the Balls and a frustrating video-call affair on Face to Face, and a series of phoney friends. As with a six-part message from a softboi, you’re tempted to roll your eyes at these trials, but this stuff hurts when you’re not old enough to shrug it off, and the bruise that seems to sit under his voice is often affecting.
The youthful tendency to overthink things spills into the music, which is sometimes a little fussy – It Gets Better is series of great ideas whose pacing is all off, and the circuitous melody of 10/10 only just stays on the road. He’s better when the pace drops, relaxing into a classic in Always. His songcraft is distinctive, a blend of Ed Sheeran white rap with the nerdy piano pop of Ben Folds or Randy Newman, but some of his influences remain extremely stark: Laser Lights’ chatty verses are very Chance the Rapper, and Frank Ocean’s Solo feels like a constant touchstone. His writing can still mature, then, but hopefully his heart won’t harden.
