The Boxer is the debut solo album by Kele Okereke, the lead singer of British indie rock band Bloc Party. Okereke released the album under the professional name of Kele on 21 June 2010.[1] As promotion, he uploaded the songs "Rise" and "Walk Tall" to his personal website on 13 May. The first single from The Boxer was "Tenderoni", released on 14 June, and the second, "Everything You Wanted", on 16 August.[1] The album's third single "On the Lam" was released on 25 October.

The Boxer
Studio album by
Released21 June 2010
Recorded
  • 2009–2010
  • (Royan Castle, New York)
Genre
Length46:34
Label
ProducerXXXChange
Kele chronology
Intimacy
(2008)
The Boxer
(2010)
The Hunter
(2011)
Singles from The Boxer
  1. "Tenderoni"
    Released: 14 June 2010
  2. "Everything You Wanted"
    Released: 16 August 2010
  3. "On the Lam"
    Released: 25 October 2010

The album was released by Wichita Recordings worldwide, except for the US and Canada (Glassnote Records), Australia (a co-release with Shock Records and Co-Op) and Japan (a co-release with Hostess Entertainment). Vinyl copies of the album were released by Wichita and Polydor.

The digital and Japanese versions of the album included bonus tracks and remixes in addition to the standard 10 tracks.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [2]
The A.V. Club(B+)[3]
Clash(8/10)[4]
Drowned in Sound(5/10)[5]
The Guardian     [6]
Los Angeles Times    [7]
MusicOMH     [8]
NME(7/10)[9]
Pitchfork(5.1/10)[10]
Slant     [11]
Spin          [12]

The Boxer received generally favourable reviews from critics, currently holding an aggregate score of 70 on Metacritic.

It received very positive reviews from Allmusic (4/5), Clash (8/10), MusicOMH (4.5/5) and The A.V. Club (B+).

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."Walk Tall"3:45
2."On the Lam"3:33
3."Tenderoni"4:30
4."The Other Side"3:52
5."Everything You Wanted"3:49
6."The New Rules"3:55
7."Unholy Thoughts"2:55
8."Rise"5:11
9."All the Things I Could Never Say"5:32
10."Yesterday's Gone"4:07
Digital bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Meet in the Middle"5:25
Japanese bonus tracks[13]
No.TitleLength
11."Tenderoni" (Larry Tee and Beckwith remix)6:38
12."Tenderoni" (XXXChange dub)6:07
13."Tenderoni" (Kris Menace remix)6:00

Personnel

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Credits adapted from Discogs.[14]

Release history

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Region Release date Format Label
Australia 18 June 2010
UK 21 June 2010 Wichita
Vinyl
North America 22 June 2010 Glassnote
Japan[15] 23 June 2010

Charts

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Bloc Party's Kele Okereke announces solo album details". NME. London. 6 April 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  2. ^ Phares, Heather. "Review: The Boxer". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  3. ^ Hawthorne, Marc (12 January 2012). "Kele: The Boxer". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Kele – The Boxer | Clash Music Latest Album Review". Clashmusic.com. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Drowned in Sound review". Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  6. ^ Dean, Will (17 June 2010). "The Guardian review". London.
  7. ^ "Pop & Hiss". Los Angeles Times. 22 June 2010.
  8. ^ "musicOMH review".
  9. ^ "NME Album Reviews – Album Review: Kele – 'The Boxer' (Wichita/Polydor)". NME. 20 June 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Kele: The Boxer Album Review". Pitchfork. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Kele: The Boxer | Music Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  12. ^ "SPIN review". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  13. ^ "Kele* – The Boxer (CD) at Discogs". Discogs. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  14. ^ "Kele* – The Boxer (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  15. ^ "iTunes – Music – The Boxer by Kele". iTunes Store. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  16. ^ Steffen Hung. "Kele – The Boxer". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  17. ^ Steffen Hung. "Kele – The Boxer". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  18. ^ "Kele – The Boxer". ultratop.be. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  19. ^ "Kele – The Boxer". ultratop.be. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  20. ^ Steffen Hung. "Kele – The Boxer". lescharts.com. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  21. ^ Steffen Hung. "Kele – The Boxer". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  22. ^ Steffen Hung. "Discography Kele Okereke". irishcharts.com. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  23. ^ "2010-07-03 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 3 July 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  24. ^ "2010-07-03 Top 40 Dance Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 3 July 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  25. ^ "Kele". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  26. ^ "2010 Top 40 Dance Singles Archive: 28 August 2010". Official Charts Company. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  27. ^ "Kele – Tenderoni". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  28. ^ "Kele – Tenderoni". ultratop.be. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  29. ^ "Kele – Tenderoni". ultratop.be. Retrieved 7 November 2011.