THE BOXER REBELLION Reveal fragile, heartfelt new video ‘Here I Am’ ahead of UK tour

THE BOXER REBELLION speak out on mental health and share ‘Love Yourself’ video for CALM

London quartet The Boxer Rebellion have today revealed ‘Here I Am’; the second single from their new album Ghost Alive which is due for release on 23rd March via the band’s own label, Absentee Records. ‘Here I Am’ is as fragile as they come, beautifully arranged and accompanied by a heartfelt, sentimental video that sees frontman Nathan Nicholson deal with the loss of his Father.

Nathan commented: “Bereavement is an intensely personal experience that affects us all differently…but the point is that it affects us all. ‘Here I Am’ is about how we can form an eternal bond with those that are no longer here”.

‘Here I Am’ was written for a scene in a Hollywood movie, but later didn’t fit. The scene was of a Father carrying his daughter’s body to her resting place. The film may have gone awry, but the atmosphere and a feeling of spiritual redemption remained that sums up this entire new body of work from the London band. You can watch the video to ‘Here I Am’ BELOW.

‘Ghost Alive’ is a celebration of the positive impact on oneself and others that can, ultimately, be realised from even the most challenging of human experiences. “On this record, we dealt with delicate emotions out in the open,” states the band’s lead guitarist and principal arranger, Andrew Smith. “We wanted to communicate this personal vulnerability by underpinning Nathan’s lyrics with orchestral textures.”

Check out the video for ‘Here I Am’ – BELOW:

“This album was certainly born during a particularly challenging time for my family and I,” says frontman Nathan Nicholson. “Late one evening – right in the middle of pre-production – I was informed by telephone of my Dad’s passing. I was in London with my wife and son, and left first thing in the morning to fly back to Maryville, Tennessee, where I’m from.”

“When I returned to London I felt I had some sort of out-of-body experience – I came back with a different point of view, and all the unimportant shit in my life just faded away. Often fans come up to us after a show and tell us their personal feeling of a song, which is usually a wildly different interpretation than whatever I might have written about. That’s the really wonderful thing about songs – they can be deeply personal, and whatever the listener takes away from that one piece of music is what counts. What is different about this record – this particular group of songs – is that they mean something completely different to me since my dad died. I almost feel like I’ve become the listener rather than the songwriter, and these songs mean more to me now than when they were written.”

“Rather than stripping back, we wanted to maximise the full power of emotive instruments on this album,” says Smith. “We achieved big, immersive, sweeping sounds that we’ve never been associated with before, but also delivered on heightening the sincerity and intimacy of the lyrics. We wanted to represent these emotions sonically with different colours, and of course, strings and horns played a significant part in this.” Smith spent a lot of time focussing on these arrangements, and with bassist Adam Harrison, and drummer Piers Hewitt, the four members of The Boxer Rebellion set about crafting the album’s presentation with co-producer Adam ‘Cecil’ Bartlett.

“We played very sensitively on this album, and given what Nathan had just gone through, I think we connected dynamically with each other in a way we have never done before,” says Harrison. “It was a very cathartic and uplifting experience for us all, and I think anyone who listens to this album will feel that immediately.”

Nicholson agrees: “Ghost Alive is an album that has become immensely comforting to me personally, and one that would never have been what it is without loss. I sincerely hope many others will get the same feelings of love and support from this album as I do.”

Ahead of the release of ‘Ghost Alive’, The Boxer Rebellion will be showcasing the new material on the road for some very special headline dates across the UK and Europe. All the details are below and tickets are on sale now from theboxerrebellion.com.

FEBRUARY TOUR DATES
24 Leeds The Brudenell Social Club
25 Bristol Thekla
27 Manchester The Deaf Institute [SOLD OUT]
28 London Islington Assembly Hall

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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