Rex Orange County

“Always strive to be myself, but who am I?” a 16-year-old Alex O’Connor sings from his bedroom on the lounge-y, R&B-inflected “Rex (Intro),” his official introduction as Rex Orange County.

This world-weary mix of self-awareness and self-doubt is what drives the singer/songwriter’s rich puree of lo-fi pop, soft rock, jazz, soul, hip-hop, and spoken word.

Born in 1998 and raised in the South East England village of Grayshott, O’Connor (who got Orange County from his nickname, “the O.C.”) is the epitome of a Gen-Z artist that soaks up—and does—everything.