This is not the first time that the easyGroup have apparently sued over their trade mark word ‘easy’. Back in 2018 Stelios Haji-Ioannou allegedly sued the company Netflix for using Easy in a new TV series title, at the time Haji-Ioannou had this to say, “This is a case of typically arrogant behaviour by a very large American tech company who never bothered to check what legal rights other companies have outside the US.”

Easy Life, through a social media statement, expressed their disbelief that the alleged lawsuit has been filed solely due to the likeness between their name and the company’s. They said “Okay…never imaged having to do this.” They went on to say, “easy jet are suing us for being called easy life, they’re forcing us to change our name or take up a costly legal battle which we could never afford.” They further added, “for those of you that bought gig tickets and ended up on a budget flight to tenerife, i apologise.”

Easy Life recently posted on their social media, stating that they had reached a rite of passage. It said, “we were joined by the BBC at @officialrandl . Reading And Leeds A Rite Of Passage available to stream now on Iplayer.”

Having made a huge imprint on the music scene at the Reading and Leeds festival, Easy Life are keen to maintain the brand name they have worked so hard to build. The group further commented on their Instagram post, “we’ve worked hard to establish our brand and I’m certain in no way have we ever effected their business.”

easyGroup, recently updated on the intended legal dispute with Easy Life. They stated Mr Matravers and his fellow band members were brand thieves and used the name easyLife without permission, and that they were confident they would stop Mr Matravers.

Fans of Easy Life, took to social media in support and expressed their disconcert. One fan’s comment said “This is (yet more) smoking-gun evidence of a big corporation bullying those that can’t feasibly afford to fight back. They’re actually, whole-heartedly lying. If you WERE brand thieves, then this would have happened in 2015-17. Not conveniently a year after they try– to start an easyLife branch. And the fact they have a whole page on their site proudly displaying everyone they’ve done this too?”

This is (yet more) smoking-gun evidence of a big corporation bullying those that can’t feasibly afford to fight back. They’re actually, whole-heartedly lying. If you WERE brand thieves, then this would have happened in 2015-17. Not conveniently a year after they try-

— Non-Newtonian Snake (@GuzBugs) October 3, 2023

Frontman and multi-instrumentalist Murray Matravers have spoken to BANG Showbiz regarding the group’s upcoming new album, whilst providing an insight into the group’s creative process. “We’re already working on the second record, we started working on that six months ago after we submitted the first one. We’re pretty close, actually, with that one. We’re always writing in the background.”

He went on to describe the bittersweet benefits in which lockdown provided as well as the downsides in which the group encountered in their creative process. “It was the first time that we’ve been given an extended period of time to actually make music. Usually, we’re be writing music, touring and also not taking it very seriously at all. We’d always be doing music on the side, but this is the first time where we could sit down for a year and make music. It was a bit strange. I think the luxury of having so much time was a positive but also a negative because I was in danger of overthinking every single step of the process. Whereas usually I’d be doing the writing on the side and no one really cares… I wrote a lot of bad music.”

The new album will follow up their debut album ‘Life’s a Beach’ which was released on 28th May 2021. The first studio album was released through Island Records and landed at number two within the UK Albums charts. The fivesome’s debut sired five singles, the album’s lead single ‘Daydreams’ was released on 21st October 2020. Followed by ‘A Message to Myself’, ‘Skeletons’, ‘Have a Great Day’ and finally ‘Ocean View’, released on 24th May 2021. The album’s most successful single was ‘Skeletons’ and was performed on the American chat show ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on 13th April 2021.

Before the group’s first studio album, their first mixtape entitled ‘Creature Habits’ was released in April 2018. The mixtape sired their first single ‘Pockets’, due to this release the group signed with Island Records leaving their previous label Chess Club Records. After which, the group started to gain traction within the industry, in September 2018 Easy Life performed on the prestigious music show, ‘Later… With Jools Holland’. The group began their festival appearances in 2019, they played the US festival South by Southwest as well as other UK tours. Easy Life have also earned their stripes at the legendary event Glastonbury Festival in 2019, where they headlined the BBC Introducing stage.

The group took the stage again this year within an unusual setting, the performance was held inside the popular video game Fortnite. The band played the virtual concert held on 24th June 2021 and their venue was an electronically recreated O2 Arena in London. The concert was held in partnership with O2, Epic Games, Globe and Island Records UK and can be viewed via the new digital space created by the developers, entitled Fortnite Creative.

The group made history with their set as they are the first UK band to perform via the new platform. Matravers has provided the following statement concerning the group’s latest revolutionary gig and also described how such technological advances have created more opportunities creatively. “In the game, you can just do anything. We’re performing underwater, inside a fish, we get flushed down to the toilet. The possibilities were literally never-ending, we could do anything.”

Easy Life UK Tour Dates

11/07/2021 – Rough Trade Bristol – Bristol
14/07 – Rough Trade East – London
19/07 – The Y Theatre – Leicester
21/07 – Metronome – Nottingham
22/07 – Rough Trade Nottingham – Nottingham
24/07 – Arts Club – Liverpool
03/09 – Victoria Park – Warrington
04/09 – Neighbourhood Weekender – Warrington
04/09 – Victoria Park – Warrington
25/09 – Northamptonshire The County Ground – Northampton
01/11 – O2 Academy – Bristol
02/11 – O2 Institute – Birmingham
05/11 – Morningside Arena – Leicester
06/11 – Albert Hall – Manchester
07/11 – O2 Academy – Leeds
09/11 – Barrowland Ballroom – Glasgow
11/11 – O2 Academy – Newcastle
12/11 – The Foundry – Sheffield
14/11 – The Wedgewood Rooms – Portsmouth
15/11 – Dome – Brighton
15/11 – Brighton Dome and Festival LTD – Brighton
16/11 – O2 Academy Brixton – London
17/11 – O2 Academy Brixton – London
21/11 – Limelight – Belfast
22/11 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin

ENJOY it , LOVE it, EMBRACE it, FEEL it ! LIFES A BEACH BABYYYYYYY

— easy life (@easylife) May 27, 2021

 

Easy Life can’t be confined to one genre, every track on the album varies -from indie to pop to jazz. It’s this unique fluidity that makes the release of their album greatly anticipated. There is something for everyone. ‘life’s a beach‘ consists of 12 songs, including one interlude and features the single ‘ocean view‘.

In discussing the album with DORK frontman Murray Matravers said:

“the album is about wishing things were simpler, but also coming to terms with life and realising: ‘…but it’s okay!’”

Matravers also stated:

“It’s a celebration of all the things that are wrong with the world in a way which flips them around and says: Yeah, but isn’t it great that we’ve all got these similar issues that we can relate to one another with?”

It’s this accessible and relatable aspect of Easy Life’s music that makes their success as artists inevitable. Not only is the album perfect for summer, with  energetic hip-hop and references to the beach, but the lyrical narratives in the singles make the album something everyone can listen to. Although inspired by personal experiences, the lyrics are never confined to that, and instead Easy Life have created a positive spin on common experiences that aren’t necessarily positive.

Finding positivity in the negatives, and offering words of encouragement in amongst brilliant music – Easy Life’s ‘life’s a beach‘ is exactly what we need this summer and for the foreseeable future.

You can listen to the album here.

The band, formed in Leicester, gained popularity with their single ‘nightmares‘ back in 2018 and have since developed a creative, unique discography. Their new single ‘ocean view‘ perfectly captures the dazed hip-hop that is heavily associated with the band.

Frontman Murray Matravers offers detailed, lyrical narrative in the single. In his own words on ‘ocean view‘, Matravers stated that it is about:

“managing expectations. With great anticipation comes great disappointment. ‘ocean view’ is the feeling of taking your mate/lover out on a wild trip to the seaside and finding out the whole trip is massively underwhelming, and they don’t even enjoy trips to the beach.”

The single teases the release of the new album ‘Life’s A Beach‘ – a suitable title which is reflected in ‘ocean view‘. Murray acknowledges the hardship that your expectations won’t always be met, as seen in his deep lyrical contemplation, yet the band portrays this through energetic hop-hop. You can never have the highs without the lows – life’s a beach.

Previous singles have shown the bands ability to fluctuate emotionally and lyrically depending on subject matter. From the bands happy go lucky, upbeat approach in ‘ocean view‘ to a slower tempo in ‘a message to myself’. In interview with DORK, Easy Life’s guitarist Lewis Alexander Berry commented on why the band were yet to make an album. Berry summarised the bands ability to adapt between singles, something that makes their music so unique – “I think we realise that there isn’t going to be a point where we go ‘this is what we sound like’. That’s great. If anything, that’s really exciting for us because we just write whatever we want”.

The single captures unrealistic expectations under a nostalgic, romanticised melody. It is suitably accompanied by the music video, directed by Greg Barth. The video is supposedly set at the beach with frontman Matravers appearing to be on a date with a giant goldfish. By the end of the video the camera pans out and reveals the beach is a complete set up – a crime scene of a car crash. Of course, the car crash suitably resembles ‘ocean view‘ and its theme of failed expectations.

‘ocean view‘ will be featured along with 12 other tracks on Easy Life’s debut album ‘Life’s A Beach‘, which has been greatly anticipated. The band are also set to perform on their upcoming Record Store Tour in the UK this July. You can watch the music video for their new single ‘ocean view‘ here.

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The Leicester band’s new album will feature the singles ‘A Message To Myself’ and the latest one ‘Skeletons’, that only came out last month. Those two tracks give a glimpse of what’s coming in their album. Frontman Murray Matravers previously described the upcoming album as “a record that wishes it was anywhere else but here. Yet at the same time fixates on a dreary middle England existence”. 

The single ‘Skeletons’ that premiered on 13th April, has been described by Matravers as: “the idea of a slightly mysterious and potentially terrifying past. Everyone has baggage and everyone has skeletons”. You can check out the video below. Easy Life’s debut album ‘Life’s a beach’ via Island Records is available to pre-order here. See full track list below:

1. A message to myself
2. Have a great day
3. Ocean view
4. Skeletons
5. Daydreams
6. Life’s a beach (interlude)
7. Living strange 8. Compliments
9. Lifeboat
10. Nightmares
11. Homesickness
12. Music to walk home to

Easy Life are out on the road in UK and Europe from November this year. See full tour dates below. Tickets are available here.

01/11/2021 – O2 Academy (sold out) – Bristol
02/11 – O2 Institute – Birmingham
05/11 – Morningside Arena – Leicester
06/11 – Albert Hall (sold out) – Manchester
07/11 – O2 Academy – Leeds
09/11 – Barrowland Ballroom – Glasgow
11/11 – O2 Academy – Newcastle
12/11 – The Foundry (sold out) – Sheffield
14/11 – The Wedgewood Rooms (Matinee) – Portsmouth
14/11 – The Wedgewood Rooms (sold out) – Portsmouth
15/11 – Dome – Brighton
16/11 – O2 Brixton Academy (sold out) – London
17/11 – O2 Brixton Academy (new date) – London
21/11 – Limelight – Belfast
22/11 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin

16/03/2022 – Den Atelier – Luxembourg
18/03 – La Trabendo – Paris
19/03 – Kantine – Cologne
21/03 – Dynamo – Zurich
22/03 – Grelle Forelle – Vienna
24/03 – Meetfactory – Prague
25/03 – Praga Centrum – Warsaw
26/03 – Columbia Theater – Berlin
28/03 – Lille Vega – Copenhagen
29/03 – Obaren – Stockholm
30/03 – Krosset – Oslo
01/04/2022 – Gruenspan – Hamburg
02/04 – Melkweg MAX – Amsterdam
03/04 – Trix – Antwerb

half the tour sold out and remaining dates almost gone pic.twitter.com/XZoVFdsKHs

— easy life (@easylife) April 27, 2021