Trawling through YouTube about two weeks ago one of the reaction sites I follow popped up (No Protocol.Check her out,she’s good)featured a music video called Hi Ren by Ren.She doesn’t normally do music so it intrigued me,also the thumb nail of a fella in a wheelchair dressed in hospital gown clutching an acoustic guitar peaked my interest.The journey had began…
Ren is a British artist based in Brighton (Welsh by birth) who is suffering from years of chronic illness,including Lyme disease,misdiagnoses and psychological disorders.He’s currently in Canada undergoing intensive treatment and I wish him all the best.I have been left speechless in admiration by his artistic talent…
Hi Ren is over nine minutes long and is a run through of his mental torment suffered over ten years,featuring about five different genres and is absolutely fucking mind blowingly brilliant. I laughed,I cried and on two occasions found myself punching the air shouting “Fucking yes! Get in!” Like Wolves had scored a last minute winner…I was drained but wanted to hear & see more so fell upon Chalk Outlines,a duet with fellow Brit Chinchilla.Guess what? I was blubbering again halfway through.How can this be? How can one artist make me feel this way after only two songs?
Ren is not only an extremely talented musician but also a wonderful lyricist with an amazing singing range and also a pretty good actor.Witness his back & forth struggle between his inner voices on Hi Ren.His “ bad” Ren is a tour de force snake like entity swaying hypnotically whilst spitting out barbed insults with caustic humour.Think Jungle Book meets Trainspotting…I have just finished watching his trilogy of tales (Jenny’s,Schreech’s & Violet’s Tales) and again I ended up open mouthed with a lump in my throat…
But don’t think it’s all Leonard Cohen reciting Macbeth in a psych ward as there’s some joyful stuff on his YouTube channel too usually busking on the streets of Brighton with the band The Big Push ( who are pretty damn good too) or a pal called Sam Tomkins ( another fine singer) I have heard him do Amy Winehouse,Nina Simone,Bob Marley & Black Sabbath amongst others.It’s like the best karaoke in the best pub drinking with your best mates…he can also rap too because of course he fucking can!
So yea Ren.An extraordinarily talented individual with an extraordinary story to tell.If you haven’t done so already go check him out and you might become a bit of a fanboy or girl like me…
All power to your elbow Ren…
