BOSTON MANOR

INTERVIEW WITH SINGER HENRY COX BY CALEB R. NEWTON O n their new album, Glue, which drops in May via Pure Noise Records, the fierce U.K. punk group Boston When Boston Manor first got together in 2013, the group stuck to a more traditional pop punk sound, with an extra dose of hardcore-esque ferocity. Manor present a passionately sincere, Over time, the band have expanded emotionally accessible view of a world their sound tremendously. They gradin chaos. The band have developed ually began to utilize dynamic swings their sound far beyond the familiar throughout the music, delivering an basics. Glue bursts with a range, from extra personalization to the songs. the soulful, somber contemplation of “On A High Ledge,” to the emotional, Cox himself has begun singing more desperation-wracked blasts of lead soulfully, delivering frequently lowsingle “Everything Is Ordinary,” which er-ranged, mellower, but still passionfeels like an angry confrontation with ate performances. humanity’s tendency towards destruction of the extraordinary. “It’s just me kind of literally finding my “I think volatility is a good word to desongs got more tuneful and melodic, scribe it,” the band’s vocalist Henry and had more dynamics themselves, Cox explains. “In terms of the climate that kind of gave me more room to exthat it was conceived in, and also muplore my lower range.” sically itself, it’s a quite volatile record. It’s very sure of itself, which I didn’t Cox praises the band’s shift to writing think it would be going in, because more of the songs in the studio. there was so much uncertainty around producing it and making it. But I think “A lot more of this record was written when we really kind of dove into this in the studio than the previous one, record and realized what it was, we and I really like that, because I think it became very confident, and the songs gave us so much more room, because became very confident in themselves. you’re really in that space and there’s They started to take a new form. I don’t no distractions,” he explains. want to use the word aggression, but voice as an artist,” he explains. “As the there’s definitely an anger about the On Glue, Boston Manor have accomrecord, it is quite volatile.” panied their increasingly personal

ized music with lyrical contemplations about issues like toxic masculinity’s effects on those who might not fit the mold, which Cox explores in the song “On A High Ledge.”

Although Cox shares that he himself escaped major bullying for not fitting in with the tough guy stereotype, he explains that he’s been concerned about toxic masculinity for a while.

“Why is it that this element of my personality, and a lot of people that I know’s personality, is very frowned upon and discouraged?” he asks. “Why do I have to suddenly pretend to be interested in soccer and all that sort of stuff?”

There may not be easy answers, but Cox does share that he’s thankful for the progress made within Boston Manor’s own music circles - although he does offer a caveat, noting that the need for more progress should not be taken for granted.

“Sometimes I think we don’t realize how good we’ve got it,” he explains. “I think we are at the forefront of progression and change - and so, many people aren’t looking to be in those communities where we’re having these conversations and making these changes. And that’s what I want to see change. Our world is doing great, I think it’s still got a way to go, but it’s doing great, but there are still so many communities, and scenes even, that are still very much stuck in the past, and that’s a problem.”

Glue can serve as the soundtrack to confronting these issues head-on. Boston Manor are one of the many groups who had to postpone tours amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, but Cox explains that they have been and remain a very live show-oriented band, and are anxious to get back on the road.

“We’ve always been first and foremost a live band,” he explains. “And that’s kind of why we did this - to start playing live shows.” �� �� ��