The digital/CD/vinyl EP via the Self Group imprint follows the artist's celebrated 2007 album, Storyteller And The Gossip Columnist (Greyday Records).

To kick off the EP release, Southerly launches a tour throughout Europe with Kevin Devine & The Goddamn Band beginning February 18th. A hometown sendoff is slated for Tuesday, February 16th at Kelly's Olympian in Portland with four bands sharing various Southerly members. See below for complete dates.

Picking up where the latest full-length, Storyteller And The Gossip Columnist left off, listeners can hear the natural progression toward what ultimately became Champion: a swooning, eerie, beautiful, morose and uplifting soundscape that serves as an undeniable reminder of the tension, release, intensity and intrinsic harmony that all of us experience and celebrate in life. Unlike the previous disc, Champion is a largely instrumental affair, using vocals as additional layers, rather than the music's guide.

Champion Of The Noisy Negativists is a continuation in the evolution of songwriter/producer Krist Krueger, whose work has often been compared to fellow moody pop artists The National, Brendan Benson, Richard Ashcroft and Tindersticks. Predominantly recorded at Krueger's own Sonic Sandbox (Portland, OR) and completed at Haywire Studios (Portland, OR), Champion was engineered by both Krueger and Robert Bartleson and produced by Krueger.