Inpatient – End of the World: Ren and Chris Webby's Brilliantly Chaotic New Collaboration

End of the World, is a track from the first album (Asylum) by Inpatient, and the video is a blast (well, it is the end of the world…).  It’s lyrically dense – and very funny (love the line about the Vatican, allegedly, but there are too many standout lines to mention here). The song seems to be a (tongue in cheek) shrug of the shoulders at the world in general.  Let’s self-medicate and get on with it, because we’re all f**ked anyway.  Yet when I finished the watching the video, which is hugely creative and a perfect accompaniment to the song, I was left thinking that this is more like a call to arms – to make the most of it too. Even if it isn’t, listening to a song about how screwed we all are cheered me up no end.

Plus, anything with a kazoo interlude gets my vote.

So, who are Inpatient? I went to Bangor University in North Wales from 1983-1986 and had a fabulous time with some fabulous people, thank you very much.  I loved the (very small) city and its people – and it’s great to see that Bangor is still producing brilliance.  Ren, a musician, rapper, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and storyteller, was born there in 1990. Of course, as he is Welsh, you could say some of those things I just listed were most likely in his blood from birth.  There is something Dylanthomasy in some of these lyrics - but there is fatalism rather than rage (perhaps the message is drink, drink [or insert substance of choice] against the dying of the light - Thomas would no doubt have approved of that).

Now Ren has joined up with Chris Webby, an American rapper and songwriter from Norwalk, Connecticut known for fast, technically sharp rapping, punchlines, pop-culture references, and an independent approach to his music.  Mix in production and some of the song-writing from JP On Da Track and you have this collaborative project (band?) called Inpatient.  This is one of my favourite songs of the year already.

The comments on YouTube are massively positive, with fans describing the song as a brilliant soundtrack to what feels like the end of humanity, while somehow remaining incredibly fun. One listener summed it up perfectly: “I've been talking with friends for several years now about how we have a front row seat to the end of humanity. You guys just brilliantly put it to music.” Another wrote, “Only Ren and Webby can make a song about the end of life as we know it but make it so fun that me and my wife can't stop singing to it.” Others called the pair “a gift to the world,” thanked them for the music (not in an Abba way), and declared it their new favourite, with one fan simply calling Asylum the  “album of the year” which is praise indeed. 

The excitement around the collaboration is clear, with comments describing Ren and Webby as their “two fave artists” and praising them for “smashing it again.” There is a real sense that listeners aren't just enjoying the song but embracing its strange, darkly comic message: if we're going to have a front-row seat to the end of the world, we might as well have Ren and Webby providing the soundtrack.

The video manages to look both home-made and very expensive at the same time, which is quite a feat. Have a watch...