XL LIFE Reveal “Shout” Visualiser & Announce UK Headline Tour Dates

Hotly-tipped Welsh powerpunk quartet XL LIFE have announced they will play two select April 2023 UK headline dates in Cardiff and London, with tickets on sale now. To celebrate the news, the band have released a visualiser for Shout, the experimental jazz-laden opening track and manifesto from the quartet’s debut album, The Boogie Down South, that is out now via Venn Records. Recorded at WWWStudios in Aldershot, The Boogie Down South was mixed by friend of the band Nick Davies at Meteor Sound in Cardiff. The striking painting used for the album artwork comes courtesy of another friend of the band, artist Maddie Hobbs.

“We met Nick through a mutual connection, and were beyond lucky to do so. He put every drop of passion you could ever ask for into bringing the mixes to life. His creativity and experimentation allowed The Boogie Down South to take on a life of its own through trial and error, successes and failures. It really became its own creation and breathed its own air, and for that we are eternally grateful to Nick.” (drummer Jasper Gaskin)

Like many of their peers in the hardcore scene, XL LIFE‘s ethos is a deceptively simple one, but it’s something that we all struggle with at times: making the most of our lives. After a busy summer of live appearances in 2021 at 2000 Trees, Burn It Down, FOCUS Wales, Primordial General Mayhem and more, the band were set to hit the road on support tour dates with Cancer Bats and Comeback Kid, before a series of traumatic personal struggles with substance abuse, broken homes, violence, disabilities and mental health issues forced the quartet to put their music to one side and focus on themselves.

“It’s all about living an Xtra Large Life, but in a context that holds longevity. Being that this is our whole mission statement, we’ve had to do the very thing that we didn’t want to do, which is to step back from the band until we are in a stable place. Placing our healing journey before anything else. We take the stance that anything is possible. Full restoration and recovery is possible. It might take some time and it will be painful but we are not here to repeat the wounds of the past.” (vocalist Traxx)