Ben Chavasse to Release Debut Album Boxing and Celebrate with Release Gig
Ben Chavasse to Release Debut Album Boxing and Celebrate with Release Gig
September 25th, 2025
Indie-folk singer-songwriter Ben Chavasse enters the ring with his self-assured debut LP, Boxing. With introspective confidence, Chavasse delves into themes of adolescence and self-discovery while unpacking the institutions that shape a young person’s identity.
“It’s about being boxed in,” Chavasse says, “and pushing back against messages reinforced in high school and religious institutions that feel stifling or limiting in worldview.” Threaded with a youthful energy, Boxing is a curation of the stories, emotions and experiences marking Chavasse’s coming-of-age. “I love music that is melancholic with some kind of sweetness or edge. It helps me connect with feelings I don’t find easy to access in other ways,” he says.
Chavasse is no stranger to dedication, growth, and patience, quietly working on his craft since winning Smokefree Rockquest as a 16-year-old. “It’s cathartic to be able to release this album. As I’ve been sitting on these songs for a long time,” he says. After a decade of ‘voice-note’ phone recordings, his debut album is a blend of grounded imagery, bittersweet lyrical foundations, and influences from rock, punk, and jazz.
Influenced by the likes of Tiny Ruins, Tom Waits, Angel Olsen, Bob Dylan, Joanna Newsom, Japanese Breakfast, and Alex G, Ben Chavasse’s sound is a distinctive mix of indie-folk and playful genre-blending textures featuring strings and horns.
Opening single, ‘Letdown’ heralds Chavasse’s arrival through tender and reflective lyricism. “It was this moment of maturing,” he says, “the realisation that the people you look up to can’t always provide all the answers.” ‘Pip Dog’ follows as a grand sonic climax with trembling strings. “I feel like a mutt/So don’t lock me out,” Chavasse sings, gripped by a childhood memory of being handed things before being ready. ‘Chugga’ pairs its driving bassline with a biting critique of the pressures placed on young couples to map out the rest of their lives in line with familial expectations.
Grounded in collaborations from Chavasse’s time at Auckland University’s Jazz school, Boxing is co-produced and engineered by Michael Howell (SKILAA) and mastered by Josh Llewellyn (Downbeat Mastering). A gig to celebrate the release is taking place on September 27th at The Button Factory. The show will start at 7pm, with Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist and producer Benjamin Mack opening with his band.
With a second album in the works, Chavasse is excited to keep expanding his horizons through producing and songwriting.