Boxed In

The background: Boxed In is named after the famous painting by Francis Bacon. It is also the chosen alias for the first solo venture from Oli Bayston, who used to be in a Manchester band called Keith, 2006's joint winners of the Road to V competition with Bombay Bicycle Club and much-touted by the Courteeners. That is the first and probably last time that a paragraph will appear in a prestigious online music site review featuring both Francis Bacon and the Courteeners. Since leaving the North, Bayston has worked as engineer and assistant to producer Dan Carey (Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip, Bat For Lashes, Toy) and played keyboards on Willy Mason's and Steve Mason's most recent LPs, which is weird: "Keyboardist for hire. Will only work with Masons". For the last year, he has been operating from his own studio in Hackney as a producer and songwriter for Anita Blay formerly cocknbullkid and Lianne La Havas and has begun work on Rose Elinor Dougall's new album. Vaguely, we are even told that his writing and production stints have also included "helping out" on Lily Allen songs. Truly, he is the most important man in rock. Or synthy-dance, whatever. Bayston's first release is on Moshi Moshi Singles Club, a label we've liked rather a lot over the years, both the main imprint and this, its little subsidiary. It's a double A-side, 7-inch vinyl only - an increasingly popular format, don't you know - and it sees Boxed In opened up, as it were, to incorporate a krautrockin' bassist and a funky drummer. One of the tracks, All Your Love Has Gone, has been all over Radio 1 like an indie-disco rash (well, it's had a couple of plays), and you can see why because it has the cute insistence of something cute and insistent. It is sparse, all driving bass and guitars that hover over the rhythm. It moves at a motorik pace and manages to be forlorn and frantic, like Neu! chasing New Order across the beach in Ibiza at 4am, while Bayston sounds drained as he repeats the title. The other track, Legacy, is nimbler and more nagging still, a Hot Chip-ish dance delight, Bayston's diamond geezer-ish vocals suiting the quirky house music to a tee as the beat stutters to a halt. Not sure what Bacon would have made of it, but it's better than anything the Courteeners have done. So much for our prediction about the figurative painter and the Manc lad rockers. - The Guardian

Band Name: Boxed In

Members: Oli Bayston (vocals, keyboards), Liam Hutton (live drums), Mark Nicholls (live bass), Jack Benfield (live synths)

Where: Manchester, U.K. (now based in London)

Foundation and Formation: In 2011 the loss of LCD Soundsystem created a polished, ludicrously-danceable pop power vacuum, one which many bands have tried to step into, but none so successfully as Boxed In. The work of London based producer Oli Bayston, Boxed In captures the euphoria and bitterness of James Murphy's creation whilst bringing something very distinctively "Boxed In" to the fore.

"I first got into music when I was about 18 actually," Bayston explains. "I just immediately fell in love with it when I heard a record by a guy called Matthew Herbert. From there, I just delved really heavily into anything house related from Detroit and Chicago to like old acid house. I've seen Theo Parish more times than I can remember. I've always loved that kind of music. Even though what I've made has varied over the years, it's always been a mainstay for me."

Boxed In is certainly built on a foundation of house music, combined with Krautrock rhythms. "I started Boxed In probably about three years ago," says Bayston. "I wrote and recorded 10 songs all on the computer—the best part of an album, really—and decided I just wanted to develop on from there. I started working with [producer] Dan [Carey] on trying to interpret those very specific four or five electronic beats into something more acoustic, using real instruments the way we did it live."

The way he did it live, of course, was to pull a band together. "I used to be in a band with Mark [Nicholls] up in Manchester, so we've known each other for a very long time," says Bayston. "He used to play guitar in that band, but now plays bass in Boxed In. Liam [Hutton], I met him when he was 17 and he was playing drums for Neneh Cherry's band, and we were supporting, me and Mark, for three weeks throughout France on the tour. I was just absolutely blown away by Liam's drumming. Jack [Benfield] is one of Liam's best friends and he came along to a few gigs when it was just us as a three piece. I got on really well with him and I knew he was a great guitarist, so I thought maybe he could join the party."

What's in a name? Bayston's Boxed In moniker was inspired by Francis Bacon's painting Head IV. "I never intended to create a band name that was based around a deep pretentious concept," a cautious Bayston says when asked about this. "But I've always been a huge fan of his and I've got this big book, and in the book one of the art critics—Gilles Deleuze—described that particular painting as 'The operation through which the entire body escapes through the mouth.' That, to me, just immediately sprung out as the description of either songwriting or singing. It just seemed like a perfect observation of a creative outlet."

Reference Points: Hot Chip, Neu!, LCD Soundsystem - Under The Radar

Oli Bayston’s transition from go-to producer to dazzling solo artist is complete. At the desk, credits include Rosie Lowe, The Bohicas and The Voyeurs, but as Boxed In he’s hedging his bests on a craft that’s gradually evolved into something genuinely formidable.

‘Foot of the Hill’ is as sharp as one of Ramsey’s kitchen knives. It jolts into action from the get go, darting across light synth keys and jagged percussive parts that wind up defining the song. “You’re gonna kill me,” Bayston declares in a blink-and-you-missed-it closing line, but given the weapons he showcases on this new single, it feels like he’s a threat of his own.

Boxed In’s new single is premiering below, released on 3rd November via Nettwerk.

This October, Boxed In’s heading off on tour with Teleman.

OCTOBER

18 Leeds, Brudenell Social Club

20 Manchester, Gorilla

21 Birmingham, Hare and Hounds

22 London, Heaven

24 Brighton, The Haunt

25 Bristol, Fleece -