Hard Life
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Hard Life | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Easy Life (2017–2023) |
| Born | Script error: No such module "person date". |
| Origin | Leicester, England |
| Died | Script error: No such module "person date". |
| Genres | Page Template:Hlist/styles.css has no content. |
| Years active | 2017–present |
| LabelTemplate:Pluralize from text | Island |
| Members |
|
| Past members | Sam Hewitt |
| Website | hardlifemusic |
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hard life (stylised in all lowercase),[1] formerly known as Easy Life,[2] is an English alternative indie pop group formed in Leicester in 2017. They came second in the 2020 edition of the BBC's Sound of..., an annual music poll of music critics and industry figures to find the most promising new music talent. Their third mixtape, Junk Food, reached No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart a day after its release. Their debut studio album, Life's a Beach, was released on 28 May 2021.[3]
The band ceased performing under the Easy Life name in October 2023, after they announced that they were being sued by easyGroup over the use of the "easy" name and were financially unable to contest the dispute in court.[4][5] In June 2024 the band returned under the new name of Hard Life.
History
The band was formed by frontman Murray Matravers in mid-2017.[6][7] They released their first single, "Pockets", via Chess Club Records in November 2017,[8] and subsequently signed to Island Records.[7] They released their debut mixtape, Creature Habits, in April 2018.[9] Following the release of the singles "Frank" in July 2018[10] and "Nightmares" in September 2018,[11] the band appeared on Later... with Jools Holland.[12] They ended 2018 by releasing their fourth single, "Temporary Love Part 1" (with B-side "Temporary Love Part 2"), in December.[13] In 2022 they took to Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage for their second Glastonbury appearance; they featured alongside former Brockhampton member Kevin Abstract, who joined them on stage and forgot his verse.[citation needed]
They released their second mixtape, Spaceships, containing the single "Sunday" in March 2019,[14] and headlined the BBC Introducing stage at the Glastonbury Festival in June.[15] Debuting as Annie Mac's "hottest record" on BBC Radio 1 in July, the band released the single "Earth". The music video, commenting on environmental issues, was shot at a plastic recycling plant in Morocco.[16]
The band released their debut album Life's a Beach on 28 May 2021. It reached the number two spot on the UK Albums Chart. Their second album Maybe in Another Life..., released on 7 October 2022,[17] also reached number two.
The band returned 18 months after their "Easy Life for the very last time" shows on the 18th of July 2025 with their third studio album Onion[18], announcing a UK tour shortly after.
Litigation and rebranding
In October 2023, The Times reported that Easy Life were being sued for trademark infringement by EasyGroup, a venture capital conglomorate.[19] The company alleged that the band used their branding and imagery of EasyJet, a subsidiary of the group, in their 2021 and 2022 Life's a Beach tour.[20] The band confirmed the lawsuit in a statement posted to their Instagram and X accounts, saying that they found the whole situation hilarious but they were "virtually powerless against such a massive corporation."[21] In a statement to the BBC and The Guardian, a spokesman for EasyGroup referred to the band as "brand thieves."[21] Following EasyGroup's statement the band posted a timeline of their activities from as early as 2015, and pointed out that EasyGroup's trademark application for "Easylife" had been registered in August 2022.[21]
Later that month, Easy Life announced that they would change their name because they did not have the financial resources to continue with the litigation.[4] They played their final performances under the Easy Life name on 12 October 2023 at O2 Academy Leicester, and on 13 October 2023 at Koko in London.[22]
On 11 June 2024, the band announced their rebrand to Hard Life and released their single "Tears" the same day.[2][23]
In April 2025, the band announced a new album, Onion, released on 18 July 2025, and released a new single, "Othello".
Band members
- Murray Matravers – vocals, synthesizer, keyboard, trumpet
- Oliver Cassidy – drums, percussion
- Lewis Alexander Berry – guitar, bass guitar
- Jordan Birtles – percussion, keyboard, backing vocals
Past member
- Sam Hewitt – bass guitar, saxophone, backing vocals (2017–2024)
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [24] |
IRE [25] |
SCO [24] | |||||
| Life's a Beach | 2 | 47 | 4 | ||||
| Maybe in Another Life... |
|
2 | — | 2 | |||
| Onion |
|
— | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||
Mixtapes
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [24] |
SCO [24] | ||||
| Creature Habits | — | — | |||
| Spaceships |
|
— | — | ||
| Junk Food | 7 | 23 | |||
| See You Later Maybe Never (Demos) |
|
— | — | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Sales [24] |
ICE [31] |
JPN Over. [32] |
SCO [33] | ||||||
| "Pockets" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | Creature Habits | |||
| "Frank" | 2018 | —[A] | — | — | — | Non-album single | |||
| "Nightmares" | 54 | — | — | 82 |
|
Life's a Beach | |||
| "Temporary Love" | — | — | — | — | rowspan="2" Template:Non-album singles | ||||
| "Houseplants" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Sunday" | — | — | — | — | Spaceships | ||||
| "Earth" | — | — | — | — | Junk Food | ||||
| "Nice Guys" | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "sangria" (featuring Arlo Parks) |
— | — | — | — | |||||
| "Dead Celebrities" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Peanut Butter" / "Petty Crime" | —[B] | — | — | — | See You Later Maybe Never (Demos) | ||||
| "Daydreams" | — | — | — | — | Life's a Beach | ||||
| "A Message to Myself" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Skeletons" | — | 14 | 16 | — | |||||
| "Have a Great Day" | — | 9 | — | — | |||||
| "Ocean View" | — | 18 | — | — | |||||
| "Beeswax" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | Maybe in Another Life... | |||
| "Dear Miss Holloway" (featuring Kevin Abstract) |
— | — | — | — | |||||
| "OTT" (featuring BENEE) |
— | — | — | — | |||||
| "Fortune Cookie" | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Trust Exercises"[34] | 2023 | 4 | — | — | — | Non-album single | |||
| "Tears"[23] | 2024 | — | — | — | — | Onion | |||
| "Othello"[35] | 2025 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Ogre"[36] | — | — | 16 | — | |||||
| "Y3llow Bike"[37] | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||
Notes
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Awards and nominations
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| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Easy Life | NME Best New British Act | Won |
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Hard Life - Apple Music". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nanji, Noor (11 June 2024). "Easy Life band renamed after EasyGroup legal row". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life – official website". Easy Life – official website. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (10 October 2023). "Pop group Easy Life forced to change name after objection from easyGroup". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Richards, Will (16 October 2023). "Easy Life live in London: an emotional farewell amid legal drama". NME. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life on Apple Music". Apple Music.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life – Artists – Island Records". Islandrecords.co.uk.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life make a stunning debut with "Pockets" and sign to Chess Club Records". Thelineofbestfit.com.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Review: Easy Life – 'Creature Habits' – Born Music". Bornmusiconline.com. 18 April 2018.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life premiere new single 'Frank' + announce UK headline tour (Island Records)". Withguitars.com. 12 July 2018.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life's new track 'Nightmares' is anything but". Dork. 28 September 2018.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."BBC Two – Later... with Jools Holland – Episode guide". BBC.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life share two new tracks 'Temporary Love Pt. 1 & 2'". DIY. 7 December 2018.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life share mixtape, 'Spaceships'". DIY. 19 March 2019.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."BBC Music – BBC Music Introducing – BBC Music Introducing at Glastonbury Festival 2019". BBC.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life highlight environmental concerns with their new video for 'Earth'". Dork. 17 July 2019.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Williams, Sophie (6 October 2022). "Easy Life – 'Maybe In Another Life...' review: soulful snapshots grappling with post-pandemic strife". NME. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."hard life - onion". DIY. 16 July 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kampfner, Constance (3 October 2023). "Easyjet owner sues Easy Life over band name". The Times. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy life: Band say easyJet brand owner suing over name". BBC News. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hogg, Ryan (4 October 2023). "EasyJet owner sues band Easy Life to force it to change its name and accuses members of being 'brand thieves'". Yahoo Finance. Fortune. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jefford, Will (11 October 2023). "Easy life: EasyJet brand owner row prompts band name switch". BBC. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Carter, Daisy (11 June 2024). "Easy Life rebrand as Hard Life and share new single "Tears"". DIY. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life | Full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Discography Easy Life". Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ a b Script error: No such module "cite". Type Easy Life in the "Search:" field.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Creature Habits Mixtape". Open.spotify.com. 12 April 2018.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Spaceships Mixtape". 18 March 2019 – via open.spotify.com.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Junk Food by Easy Life", Apple Music, 10 January 2020, retrieved 18 January 2020
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Easy Life have decided to share two demos titled "Peanut Butter" and "Petty Crime" that were written and recorded during the coronavirus lockdown". Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
- ^ Peaks in Iceland:
- "Have a Great Day": Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Vinsældalisti Rásar 2 - RÚV". RÚV (in íslenska). Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- "Skeletons": Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Vinsældalisti Rásar 2 - RÚV". RÚV (in íslenska). Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- "Ocean View": Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Vinsældalisti Rásar 2 - RÚV". RÚV (in íslenska). Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- ^ Peaks on the Billboard Japan Hot Overseas chart:
- "Skeletons": Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Billboard Japan Hot Overseas". Billboard Japan (in 日本語). 9 June 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
- "Ogre": Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Billboard Japan Hot Overseas". Billboard Japan (in 日本語). 11 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Trust Exercises - Single by Easy Life". Apple Music. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Richards, Will (9 April 2025). "Hard Life return with new single 'Othello'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Taylor, Sam (23 May 2025). "hard life have released 'OGRE', a song "partly inspired by Shrek"". Dork. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Damara Kelly, Tyler (25 June 2025). "hard life navigates falling for a friend on "y3llow bike"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
