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While a few songs aren't quite as dynamic as the rest, this album proves that Kele has more than enough ideas and identity for a solo career.
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Alternative PressVocally, Okerele is in top form, making a put-down sound like a prayer or a military march feel like a pride anthem. Bring your glowsticks--and your heart. [Jul 2010, p.126
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All in all, this is a persuasive solo debut, confident, innovative and brimming with hooks.
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How I Got Over finds the Roots acting as elder statesmen in hip-hop, but its mix of nifty experiments and straightforward rap eliminates any sense of predictability.
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Hi-NRG rhythms and sweet syncopated beats propel themselves skywards.
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Having an instrument-swaparound is not virtuous in itself, and a great deal of The Boxer sounds reactionary to the point of irreverence. He seems so obsessed with the idea of crafting himself a neat PR image that he's forgot to bring along any sense of genuine, fresh creativity.
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Though there are some exceptional moments here, The Boxer mostly feels like a self-indulgent release; like Kele needed to get this out of his system before he gets back to his day job.
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While the adventurous Boxer pares off Bloc Party's ponderous streak, it leaves room for Kele's hopeless romanticism, and the end result hits in all the right places--head, hips and heart alike.
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MojoOkereke once again pushing the boundaries of what British indie can be. [July 2010, p. 96]
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The Boxer is loose-limbed, electronic yet human and, most importantly, full of the experimentation and genre-blending Okereke always claimed to love.
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This is a record that has the dancefloor firmly locked with its sights.
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His earnestness shines through, and in shaking off his rock baggage, he's made the best kind of electro album: the sort that can be appreciated just as much from the couch as the club.
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In place of huge choruses and bombast, Kele offers an album heavy on tone, mood, and texture. Unfortunately, his efforts fail to make you forget the absence of things like hooks.
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The Boxer is a thicker, heavier, version of the sort of music DFA were putting out almost 10 years ago.
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Q MagazineThe Boxer really just makes him the latest in a series of open-minded indie frontmen using solo projects to extend their musical idiom. [July 2010, p. 138]
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Artiness trumps hip-shaking soul on too many cuts – although the gentle croon and gurgling synths of nondanceable songs like "All the Things I Could Never Say" make for nice dinner music.
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In reality, The Boxer is Intimacy revisited: A blunted, bored, watered-down retread, and the work of an artist whose unique voice can't flourish without dissimilar, energetic counterparts.
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Bloc Party fans won't be shocked or dismayed, though: Boxer just ratchets up the electronic vibe of 2008's Intimacy, stretching even further sonically while maintaining Okereke's earthy, hyperpersonal songwriting.
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Okereke has said that he's finally found his sweet spot with The Boxer, which will give Bloc Party fans pause; it's a good album and all, but it shouldn't be mistaken for anything more than an adventurous side project.
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It's a convergence that really works though, with Kele mixing the adventurous side electronic music enables him to embrace with the conservatism borne of years in a guitar band. A really solid debut.