Rex Orange County spent the last week of August playing to two very different rooms in London, and brought out a guest in each. The first was a small warm-up at Village Underground on August 27, where the singer-songwriter, real name Alexander James O'Connor, aired a song nobody has heard on record.
Elvis opens on a plain guitar figure and builds through string arrangements and flute. The lyric is restless rather than grand: he sings about shaking his legs like Elvis, wanting to be somebody's only friend out of selfishness, wanting to stay in a hotel forever like it is Vegas. Brendan Yates of Turnstile came out as a surprise guest and took the final verse.
That show doubled as a warm-up for Tyler, The Creator's two night takeover of All Points East, and Rex Orange County played his own set there on the Friday before joining Tyler onstage during the headline performance. The two played Boredom, their collaboration from Tyler's 2017 album Flower Boy, and Tyler also brought out A$AP Rocky the same night.
The first night's guest list ran long: Turnstile, Mariah The Scientist, Clipse, Sexyy Red, Ravyn Lenae, Fakemink and Vince Staples all appeared. Night two, on August 29, added Daniel Caesar, Baby Keem, Dijon, Ghostface Killah, Syd, Faye Webster, Danny Brown and Jim Legxacy.
Turnstile ran their own guest during their set, bringing out Faye Webster for I Care. That timed with the release of Never Enough: Versions, the band's reworked album, on which Webster's version of the song appears; MusicSuey covered the remake project when it was announced.
Rex Orange County released Indecision earlier in August, a single with Daniel Caesar. Elvis has no release date. Tyler's own run of shows this year, including the $5 dance party he took to Atlanta, has been built on this kind of guest traffic, and the London weekend belonged as much to indie crossover as it did to rap.
The facts
- Rex Orange County played Village Underground on August 27.
- He aired the unreleased song Elvis with Turnstile's Brendan Yates.
- Yates sang the final verse of the song.
- He joined Tyler, The Creator for Boredom at All Points East.
- Boredom comes from Tyler's 2017 album Flower Boy.
- Turnstile brought out Faye Webster for I Care during their own set.
- He released the single Indecision with Daniel Caesar earlier in August.
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