On October 25, 2019, singer-songwriter Rex Orange County released his third full length album, Pony. Personally, I have been a very dedicated fan of his for the past couple of years, so the anticipation of this album was incredibly high on my end. Now, after listening to it on repeat for the past 3 days, it’s definitely safe to say my expectations have been exceeded.
Right off the bat, the lyrics of each track were hitting me on a very personal level, and I felt as though this album had been released at the exact moment I needed it to be. As a college freshman who moved away from the place I had lived my entire life to a new place where I knew literally nobody, the overarching themes of growing up and moving on among all 10 tracks carry a message that perfectly captivate my emotions when I haven’t been able to quite put them into words myself.
The opening song “10/10”, an upbeat anthem about striving to be your best self regardless of all the bullshit you’ve been through, begins with the lines “I had to think about my oldest friends/ Now I no longer hang with them/ And I can’t wait to be home again.” This immediately hits the soft spot of having to say goodbye to all of my childhood friends when I left for college, and the rest of this bop focuses on wanting to thrive in the upcoming year that’s ahead. Hits very close to home, don’t you think?
The last song on the record, “It’s Not The Same Anymore,” juxtaposes the positive, hopeful attitude present in “10/10” by talking about the reality of growing up, and the thought that things will never be like they were in the ‘good ol’ days’. “My life was simple before/ I should be happy of course/ But things just got much harder/ Now it’s just hard to ignore/ It’s not the same anymore.” As depressing as those particular lyrics may sound, the closing lines of the song (and the entire album) capture my overall bittersweet feelings towards my home away from home thus far: “It’s up to me, no one else/ I’m doing this for myself/ It’s not the same anymore/ It’s better/ It got better.” My life in Seattle isn’t anything like it was back home, but as each day goes on, it’s getting better in it’s own unique way.
The 8 songs on Pony consist of both ballads and bangers, with Rex singing about everything from heartbreak to dancing to loving to changing. He manages to tell a story of what feels like every aspect of growing up, and how all of the highs and the lows ultimately shape you into who you really need to be. Many people that are in the transition from high school to college can find something in this album that they can relate to in a way that they haven’t been able to find before. Where your own words leave off, this music begins.
This article could be about 30 pages long if I really wanted to get into the nitty gritty of each song and how it all connects to this crazy college life that I and many others are just beginning, so you’ll just have to listen to it yourself to find out more. Stream Pony now! You will not regret it.