Rex Orange County: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

This performance was recorded on February 19, 2020. We will continue releasing Tiny Desk videos of shows that had already been taped. In light of current events, NPR is postponing new live tapings of Tiny Desk Concerts. In the meantime, check out Tiny Desk (home) concerts! They’re recorded by the artists in their home. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space. Watch Rex Orange County play "Loving Is Easy", "Pluto Projector", "Always" and "Sunflower" at the Tiny Desk. Did you know you can watch new Tiny Desk concerts on npr.org ONE WEEK before they go up on YouTube Click here: https://www.npr.org/tinydesk Follow NPR Music: Twitter: https://twitter.com/nprmusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nprmusic March 18, 2020 | Bobby Carter -- Rex Orange County, the low-key British pop star born Alex O'Connor, frames his emotions and struggles in a way that appears simple and linear at first. It's only after a few listens that you realize that most of us are incapable of the courage he demonstrates behind the microphone. The crowd of millennial and Gen Z staffers that gathered early for Rex's soundcheck at the Tiny Desk certainly appreciated that fact. There was a palpable connection between the 21-year-old singer and his fans that I don't see often at this stage in a musician's career. My guess is that they see themselves in him: introverted and shy, with the audacity to write and sing about his innermost thoughts. The first time I saw Rex Orange County perform live was at the very small U Street Music Hall in Washington, D.C., in 2018 while he was supporting his second album, 2017s Apricot Princess. Luckily, I was familiar with the music; otherwise, I wouldn't have made out a word of what he was saying over the onslaught of screams by 500 fans. Astonishingly, less than two years later, he was playing the 6,000-seat Anthem, where the screams were no match for that soundsystem. We're in an age where young people are uninhibited and unafraid to address emotions,