BeatRoute Magazine ON Edition - January 2020

RE
XORANGE COUNTY
k CONTINUED FROM PG. 21
“There’s so much that’s
happened to me that I
hadn’t expected before,”
he continues. “I’ve had a
difficult time. The years
from 18 to 21 are quite
important for everyone, I
imagine, and for me, there
was a lot of negativity that
I didn’t see coming. When
REX ORANGE
COUNTY
Monday, Jan. 20
PNE Forum (Vancouver)
Wednesday, Jan. 29
to Jan. 31
Danforth Music Hall
(Toronto)
Tix: $36.59 - $46.59
I was making Apricot Princess and bcos u will
never b free, [my relationship] was all I had to
talk about and all I really wanted to talk about.”
As O’Connor’s position in the world has
shifted, so have his ambitions as a songwriter.
“This time around, there’s a lot I wanted to
discuss rather than love so much,” he continues.
“But songs like ‘Pluto Projector,’ ‘Everyway,’ and
‘It Gets Better’ celebrate the positive side, and
having that relationship. We’ve made space to
talk about me being on the other side of the
world and missing her – which is still a massive
part of my life – but there are all these other
things I wanted to address. They were more
pressing in my mind.”
When asked what exactly he went through,
O’Connor deflects, brushing it off as “hard to
explain right now.” But he’s never been one
to dwell on the negatives, anyway – listen to
Pony and you’ll hear that acceptance is more
his speed. The result is an album drenched in
emotion that evokes images of dancing in a
flower-strewn field, alone except for the chirping
birds. It’s the morning after a life-changing
party, and now you’re reflecting on the night by
yourself, glad it happened because you learned
something about yourself.
“The whole album is actually about getting
through that period of time and looking back at
the end of the tunnel and being like, ‘That was
very, very tough, but look at me now.’ I can talk
about it and put it into a song, and it’s just a
song. Things are better now.” That sentiment
is actually how the album closes out – its final
track, “It’s Not the Same Anymore,” ends with
the line “It’s not the same anymore / It’s better.”
On top of the universal anxieties of growing
up, O’Connor has the additional pressure of
doing so on an international stage. Pony is his
first major-label release, and the only album he’s
recorded with the knowledge that, yes, people
will definitely be listening.
“I spent a lot of time feeling scared in the last
The whole
album is actually
about getting through
that period of time and
looking back at the end
of the tunnel and being
like, ‘That was very,
very tough, but look
at me now.’
few months, just being nervous, because
it’s a different feeling having more people
listening,” he says. “It was harder for sure. I
spent quite a bit more time looking at each
of the things involved, whether it be lyrics
or production, just me and Ben in a room for
hours going over things more intensely than
I did before. Saying the right thing, and not
saying things, just to say them is very important
to me. Right now, though, I’m excited.”
In fact, O’Connor says making Pony is the
accomplishment he’s proudest of to date. He
took his time with it, painstakingly contemplating
each decision until he was absolutely sure it was
the best it could be. Although his rise to fame
seems sudden, the foundation has been laid for
years, and O’Connor urges other artists to be
mindful and deliberate with their work, too.
“If you go up very quickly, you come down
very quickly,” he advises. “So try to take your
time and make considerate decisions and don’t
let other people run your career.” ,
ALEX WAESPI
22 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020