Rex Orange County – the Orange is apparently pronounced with a soft G, like the start of orangutang – is a pop singer from Hampshire, England, who rose to fame following a collaboration with Tyler, The Creator on his hit album Flower Boy. And I know that sounds like an odd pairing, a rapper from California and a pop singer from Colin Firth’s hometown.

WHO CARES? is Rex’s third solo album; the singer recorded it with Dutch musician Benny Sings in just under a fortnight in Amsterdam, and it sounds like it. It is an album that sounds like very little care was taken with it. The beats are bland, straight-forward. The strings are completely overcooked, often distracting from the song in which they feature.

Lyrically, this is a completely risk free endeavour, the pathos on display recycled from a million other pop songs. ‘Girl, if you want it / There’s no good reason not to love if you want it,’ he sings on “If You Want It”. ‘7 AM, I’m wakin’ up / Guess that I shoulda kept the curtains shut / I’m gonna be a better man someday,’ he sings on “7AM”. Ugh.

Worse than all of this, WHO CARES? is boring. In a world when pop music is enjoying an explosion in popularity and creativity, this might be its worst sin of all.

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CLTM (Chris Listens To Music) is my attempt to listen to a new album every day; you can follow my efforts on Instagram here (and send recommendations), and if you like what I’m doing, support my efforts by shouting me a cuppa at Buy Me A Coffee.