With a little bit of help from the Apple download store, currently unsigned UK-band The Boxer Rebellion have entered the iTunes UK Album Chart at number four with their long-awaited second album, ‘Union’. The album is also sitting at number two in iTunes UK Alternative Chart (beaten only by Kings Of Leon) and number eight in the iTunes US Album Chart.

The band were tipped for big things following the release of their debut album, ‘Exits’, in 2005, but during whilst on tour with The Killers, frontman Nathan Nicholson became seriously ill and had to be put on a life support machine, leaving the band on hiatus.

With Nicholson and the band now back on fighting form, iTunes made a track from the album Evacuate its first ever global single of the week, simultaneously releasing it as a free download via every iTunes store worldwide. Given the subsequent digital sales of the album via the Apple store, that was an honour worth having.

Such was the buzz around the band last week, numerous label and industry types were in touch with their management about one possible deal or another.

Of course it also helps that they’ve got a rather good second album on their hands. The band’s manager,Sumit Bothra stated that “This achievement really is a testament to the band’s tenacity. What they’ve dealt with at the hands of this business would have crushed most others. But four years later they and their fans emerge victorious, with no label backing, no publisher, no UK radio or press support, but armed with a killer self-produced album and a fearsome live reputation. Good things, as they say, come to those who wait”.

myspace.com/theboxerrebellion

Story from: cmumusicnetwork.co.uk