"My Boxer" is a song recorded by Danish singer and songwriter Oh Land. It was included on her third studio album, '' Wish Bone'' (2013), and released digitally on 10 July 2013 by Tusk or Tooth Records and A:larm Music. The track was written by

Nanna Øland Fabricius Nanna Øland Fabricius (born 2 May 1985), better known by her stage name Oh Land, is a Danish musician, singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. Early life Oh Land was born in Copenhagen, the daughter of Bendt Fabricius, an orga ...

and Dan Carey; Carey also served as the sole producer. An

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

recording with a rhythmic beat, its lyrics were inspired by an event where Oh Land walked a blind lady across the street. She compared the experience to having a

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

living in her ear. Music critics found the track to be both "weird" and "excellent", leaving other reviewers to have a mixed opinion towards it. The song was compared to the works of several artists, including

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (born 12 June 1979), known as Robyn (), is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. She arrived on the music scene with her 1995 debut album, ''Robyn Is Here'', which produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Bil ...

, Santigold and

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

. An accompanying music video was released on 12 July 2013 and features Oh Land riding a bike through various streets with a small dog in her

bicycle basket A bicycle basket is a bicycle-mounted basket for carrying cargo, usually light cargo. They are usually used for light shopping duties such as going on daily visits to the shops for fresh bread or milk. Baskets are often mounted on the handlebars ...

Background and composition

"My Boxer" was the first track released for her then-upcoming third studio album, and she premiered it digitally on ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

''s official website on 10 July 2013. It was written by Oh Land, while Dan Carey helped with the writing and its production. It was recorded at Mr. Dans recording studios in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 2013. While creating music for her third record, '' Wish Bone'' (2013), Oh Land wanted to incorporate

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

that was more complex. Also, the singer hoped that listeners of her album would find it weird and enjoy it because of that. Incorporating these ideas, she claimed that "My Boxer" was inspired by an embarrassing event that occurred in her life:

There was this one time where I had to take a blind lady across the street and I’d never done that before. I took her hand which is so obviously wrong! You don’t take a stranger’s hand! Like a 45-year-old woman! But once you take someone’s hand you can’t just let go because then you’re admitting your own awkwardness. I just held her hand and in the middle of the street she turns around and is like, ‘Do you mind if we don’t hold hands.’

"My Boxer" is an

song with an "aggressive and rhythmic" sound that has a duration of two minutes and 50 seconds. It was one of the few tracks not produced by musician Dave Sitek and was instead handled by Carey who used "bobs and weaves with jabbing percussion, glitchy electronics, and a dangerously hummable melody" in its production. Regarding its genre, Jim Carroll of ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' stated that it can be placed under "smart premier league pop" and also said it is cheerful.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's James Christopher Monger described "My Boxer" as a "forced dancefloor rave" and compared it to the works of American singer Santigold. Similarly, Michael Jose Gonzalez from ''

Gaffa ''Gaffa'' (stylized as ''GAFFA'') is a free Nordic music magazine with local editions in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''Gaffa'' is Denmark's largest and oldest music magazine. It has been published since 1983 and has 320,000 print readers and ...

'' felt the singer took influence from

, while '' The Argus''s Rosie Clarke found its lyrics resembled

's catalogue. The singer asks herself within the lyrics on various occasions, "Is that weird?", responding to her questions concerning whether or not a

living in her ear is strange. Her pondering is accompanied by a "pulsating beat" that resembles a live boxer. At one point during the song, Oh Land speaks into a megaphone and quizzes her lover: "Does baby like weird?".

Critical reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s Paul MacInnes applauded the song, finding it as proof that Oh Land's artistry varies on ''Wish Bone'' and declaring it "excellent". Michelle Geslani, a writer for '' Consequence of Sound'' called the song "a little" weird but then continued, "but we like weird". Jennifer Jof from '' Neon Tommy'' singled out "My Boxer" from ''Wish Bone'' and declared it the unofficial "anthem" on the album due to its uniqueness. She claimed the "insane and nonsensical lyrics" make the track "so fun to listen to". Monger from AllMusic was more mixed towards both "My Boxer" and single " Cherry on Top", writing that "neither song is a deal breaker, especially when they're tempered by better versions of themselves", citing album tracks "

Pyromaniac Pyromania is an impulse control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'fi ...

" and " Love You Better" as examples.

Music video

An accompanying music video for "My Boxer" premiered on 12 July 2013 through her official website and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

account. The clip features Oh Land riding on a bike through various streets. Towards the beginning of the video, an elderly lady stares at the singer as she steers with a small puppy in her

References

External links

* {{authority control 2013 songs Electropop songs Oh Land songs Songs written by Dan Carey (record producer) Songs written by Oh Land