WHO CARES?: A First Listen & Review
WHO CARES? released March 11, has sat in my “need to listen to” list for too long. I’m finally sitting down and listening to all 35 minutes in its entirety, so here is a play by play of my thoughts and feelings with each track.
“KEEP IT UP” is a jazzy and upbeat opening track that uses its name as a literal reminder to keep doing what he loves and ignore the opinions of others. Beginning this new era for Rex with such a strong statement of self-worth and self-preservation pulled me in immediately. Sonically, this track feels like the beginning of a new season of a sitcom. With bright instrumental backing that feels almost neon against lyrics that are descriptive of having to trudge your way through life, Rex Orange County seems to be giving an eloquent middle finger to any attempting to hold him to unattainable standards and judge his choices.
Track two, titled “OPEN A WINDOW,” continues the sound of an orchestra behind Rex, making me wonder if this will stay constant throughout the entire album. While the song does fit on this album and within Rex Orange County’s sound, as it began, my first thought was that the track sounds like a Silk Sonic song. Lyrically, the motif of opening a window seems to reference that Rex Orange County feels trapped within a metaphorical box and restrained by expectations once again. This track is also a collaboration with Tyler, The Creator, who gives a similar sense of being trapped through his own verse. As the track nears the end, it seems to continually grow and build, emulating the panic and need to escape found throughout the track.
“WORTH IT” is a distinct vibe shift within the orchestra dropping into lower and slower melodies for the beginning. This gives track three a somber sense before the sudden and upbeat pick up, prompting lyrics. The song continues to yo-yo between reverent sadness of low melodies and quick upbeat moments that feel like a glorious revelation. With each high, there is inevitably a low point following within this track, and the lyrics offer a short and honest glimpse into Rex’s state of mind, stating “It's not worth it anymore, I feel insane/And I'm not sure why things change/What's worth it anymore?/Am I not the same?” While this track is one of the shortest on the album, it is an early favorite of mine based on first listen.
“AMAZING” leads with another orchestra that gives a distinctly glossy sheen feeling, offering a new sense of what tentatively may be joy. This song finds Rex Orange County admiring a new love interest, pulling through the pain of the previous track into a new beginning. With semi-depressing but also loving lyrics and bright track pick ups, “AMAZING” feels like a quintessential Rex Orange County song, and it is very comfortable in its styling as such.
“ONE IN A MILLION” diverges from the sweeping orchestral beginning of the first four tracks, instead opting for an immediate jump into lyrics. The change in the song’s formula is fantastic, but I also will admit that I slightly miss the orchestra introduction. The second verse creates an entirely new beat and energy, and I am a massive fan of this tone switch, which gives the song a more sensual sense as he sings about his heart going crazy and being lost in love. I’m curious how this fits onto an album that began with finding self-love, but maybe it's a story of how to truly love someone else, you have to love yourself first? No matter what, I adore the production and creation of this track.
With some deeper synth notes, “IF YOU WANT IT” finds Rex Orange County asking for the love interest to accept his faults and love him anyways. Rex seems to be begging his love interest to stick with him, but he is also aware of his shortcomings and that he will make mistakes. His lyrical hyper anxiety continues on this track as he panics about how he will mess his relationship up in the verses, yet in the chorus he asks the girl to just believe in love if she wants to be with him, no matter both of their trepidation. This track’s frenzied beginning feels like the pace of a minor anxiety attack, deepening the sense of Rex Orange County’s need for explanation and acceptance.
“7AM” feels like a reprieve from the “IF YOU WANT IT’s” panic, launching into a more resigned wondering if the questions found throughout the album so far. With soft melodies and simple backing tracks, Rex is waking up and trying to find himself again as he sings about wanting to be independent and prove himself today. Opening up the back half of the album with “7AM” feels like a perfect follow up to the desperation of “IF YOU WANT IT,” hammering home the need to love yourself before you can truly love someone else. I deeply relate to this stress and sadness about waking up and coming to terms with one’s own mistakes. In summary, ouch.
Track eight, titled “THE SHADE,” makes me desperately want to attend a Rex Orange County show solely to see this song live, I absolutely adore the production of this track! Rex explores some regrets with a previous lover in this song, yet is ambiguous about if it is the lover from “IF YOU WANT IT” or someone else. The bells in the background feel so joyful yet the lyrics are once again pleading and yearning for a love interest to not leave him, offering a strong dissonance of meaning and feeling.
Clocking in at just 1:55, “MAKING TIME” is the shortest tack on the record and easily a sweet spot for Rex Orange County. Crooning about just making time to see his lover, Rex sounds blissfully happy as he tells his love interest about how they make things right. I’m inclined to believe in my creation of the Rex Orange County universe where “THE SHADE” was about a previous lover but “IF YOU WANT IT” and “MAKING TIME” are about his present day lover in this album. He has to heal from past trauma to be good for her, y’all!
“SHOOT ME DOWN” immediately shot down my confidence in my understanding of the relationships present within the album, as Rex Orange County’s ambiguity leaves the listener guessing about exactly who he is speaking about. This sad, suffering relationship song finds Rex trying to salvage a crumbling relationship. Rex’s curation of this song feels like begging and pleading once again, with fierce desperation ringing throughout.. A firm beat and backing track tries to hold his emotions steady while the strings overlay offer up his pain and emotion on full display, especially as he sings in the pre-chorus about how other people say he is a handful. My favorite section of the song lands us in the instrumental outro, which just feels like an outpour of all of the emotions he cannot put into words. As it builds, you can feel the music clawing at his feelings until all of the orchestra suddenly drops out, leaving just the piano. This cliff dive sonically as the piano is alone and fades out seems to be a resignation from the struggle, a somber ending to a chorus of feelings.
The title track ends this album on a very upbeat beginning track once again, as Rex Orange County repeatedly asks why he cares about other people’s opinions. Why do other people’s opinions impact him so much? He doesn’t seem to know why he lost his untethered and unbothered feelings from when he “first did this”, which could be referring to his relationship or his music.The spiral of despair has been evident throughout this entire album, and this closer feels as though it could be both letting go of the pain of caring about rejection and opinions or, in a more drastic sense, the feeling of letting go entirely.
All in all, after this first listen, I think this is a very solid listening experience from Rex Orange County. It's produced incredibly well, and I adore how many songs have a sense of weight and grandiose measure with the orchestra behind him. His collaboration with Tyler gives the album a bit of variety, and the depth of emotions rings true to a traditional Rex Orange County album. I will admit that I was waiting for a show stopping moment like Pluto Projector, which I sadly don’t think this album has any instant classics like that one, but it is well put together nonetheless.
I personally really relate to WHO CARES? and find it to be intensely reverent of the life that I am currently experiencing, specifically the need to break free from expectations but being unsure of yourself as you do so. The tracks of WHO CARES? read like individual episodes of a greater series that is compiled into one season. With each passing song, you find new descriptions of the pitfalls of being hyper aware of your own existence with an entire orchestra of people watching what you do like a judgmental audience. Self awareness, release and subsequent resurgence of doubt, and finding yourself while losing someone else are prevalent themes that allow listeners to connect to Rex. This album reads perfectly like the feelings someone in their early twenties have (aka me), and I would highly recommend giving WHO CARES? a try if you haven’t sat down with it yet.
As I continue to listen, I am finding even more comfort within this album. With each continual croon of “THE SHADE” or building symphony of “KEEP IT UP,” I am finding ease in the restless state of being that rings through each track. WHO CARES? Exploration of these themes really encapsulates being in the process of letting go and taking the steps to be free of expectations. Switching back and forth between the lack of care and the deep spiral of caring too much is a quintessential experience for anyone finding themselves in the midst of the world, and I truly commend Rex Orange County for finding the words to explain this feeling.