Having released the highly evocative, widescreen short film, The American Dream prior to the hot-headed US Presidential Election, BIG IDEAS, formed of The Boxer Rebellion’s Nathan Nicholson and Adam Harrison joined by filmmaker, Ben Lankester take their body of work to the next stage with the release of new track, Highway. Accompanied by further video from Lankester, the song completes the trio’s three-track, debut EP, pledging more to follow.
Citing influences as wide-ranging as Springsteen, The Killers and A-ha, the multi-disciplinary project offers a new outlet for the established artists’ gut-reactions to the bizarre, troubling and beautiful ways in which the world turns. The audio-visual collective does what they do best to open a door onto notions of patriotism, fear and progress in a year that has shaken up every human being’s perception of normal, strange, right and wrong.
Mixed by the legendary Billy Bush (The Boxer Rebellion, Garbage, Muse) Highway is an ageless story of leaving the comfort and, sometimes, pain of where you grew up and seeing it differently in the rear-view mirror. The track builds from glancing reminiscence to vivid memory, upping the stakes with added instrumentation and intensity as it heads towards an epic crescendo.
Praised by critics in the transatlantic band’s respective home nations, the EP’s lead track pulled no punches. The American Dream featured saxophonist Johnny Colla of Huey Lewis and the News and took swings at accepted notions of patriotism, while Lankester’s film put the gloves on and leapt into the ring in a river-deep, metaphorical and figurative journey into violence, trampled hopes, exploitation and apathy, featuring a brooding performance from boxer/actor, Tom Bennet.
Music by Big Ideas is being released as a collection of EPs, each led by a film of incredible artistic quality. Pairing Nicholson’s compassionate and melodic writing with Harrison’s ability to create sonic worlds of introspective depth and lively rhythm has generated a magic alchemy of sparkling pop-infused grooves and thought-provoking lyrics. Each track tells a story that is both personal and outwardly communicative, building on The Boxer Rebellion’s knack for allowing the audience its own space for personal interpretation.
The American Dream EP track listing:
The American Dream
Highway
Hurricane
