BitTorrent’s Monday Download series introduces this week The Boxer Rebellion, a rock band formed in London in 2001 by Nathan Nicholson, Todd Howe, Adam Harrison, and Piers Hewitt. Since we’re so fond of sharing and so happy when it also comes to mean supporting and promoting creative people, we too wanted to let you know about these guys and the download they put out there for everyone to enjoy.

n Jan 2009, they self-released their second album, Union. It went on to become iTunes’ Alternative Album of the Year. The Boxer Rebellion became the first ‘unsigned’ band to break the Billboard Albums 200 on a digital-only release. With Union, The Boxer Rebellion made a statement about the state of rock: you can be independent, and successful. And they set a precedent for music’s next wave.
Over the years, they’ve kept moving; following up Union with The Cold Still, and a compilation of b-sides and rarities. Says drummer Piers Hewitt: “We always want to progress musically, and never make the same record twice; having learnt so much since we decided to do things on our own terms, and on our own label.” Promises, their newest album, debuted earlier in May on the band’s own Absentee Recordings label. And it marks yet another evolution for the band: provocative, emotional, and uplifting – a rewrite of the independent rock canon.
We’re partnering with The Boxer Rebellion to distribute tracks from Union and The Cold Still exclusively to BitTorrent fans. Because direct-to-fan is a powerful thing. According to Hewitt:
“Our fans are our life-blood. We know plenty on a first-name basis and we see them and hang at the merch stall after gigs, just like we did all those years ago. The only difference being that now there’s a whole lot more of them… from Tokyo to Mexico City. It’s truly a beautiful thing.”
We expect that there will be a lot more of them now.
Get the BitTorrent Bundle, and you’ll get three tracks from Union, and three tracks from The Cold Still LP. Open the text file inside the Bundle, and find out how to unlock the rest of the The Cold Still LP for a limited time only.