| Hard Life | |
| Origin: | Leicester, England |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Alias: | easy life (2017–2023) |
| Years Active: | 2017–present |
| Label: | Island |
| Past Members: |
|
| Current Members: |
|
Hard Life (stylised in all lowercase),[1] formerly known as Easy Life, 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.[2]
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 unable to financially fight the dispute in court.[3] [4] In June 2024 the band returned under the new name of Hard Life.
The band was formed by frontman Murray Matravers in mid-2017.[5] They released their first single, "Pockets", via Chess Club Records in November 2017,[6] and subsequently signed to Island Records.[7] They released their debut mixtape, Creature Habits in April 2018.[8] Following the release of the singles, "Frank" in July 2018[9] and "Nightmares" in September 2018,[10] the band appeared on Later... with Jools Holland.[11] The band finished 2018 by releasing their fourth single, "Temporary Love Part 1" (with B-side "Temporary Love Part 2"), in December.[12] In 2022 they took to Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage, this was their second Glastonbury appearance and a remarkable step-up from their first on BBC Introducing. They featured alongside former Brockhampton member Kevin Abstract, who joined them on stage and promptly forgot his verse.
They released their second mixtape, Spaceships, containing the single "Sunday" in March.[13] They headlined the BBC Introducing stage at the Glastonbury Festival in June.[14] 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.[15]
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.
They released their second album Maybe in Another Life... on 7 October 2022.[16] Like the band's first album, it also reached the number two spot on the UK Albums Chart.
In October 2023, The Times reported that Easy Life were being sued for trademark infringement by EasyGroup, a venture capital conglomorate.[17] 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.[18] 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."[19] In a statement to the BBC and The Guardian, a spokesman for EasyGroup referred to the band as "brand thieves."[19] Following EasyGroup's statement the band posted a timeline of their activities from as early as 2015, and then referenced EasyGroup's trademark application for "Easylife" which had been registered in August 2022.[19]
Later that month, Easy Life announced that they would change their name because they did not have the financial resources to continue fighting the litigation.[3] 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.[20]
On 11 June 2024, the band announced their rebrand to Hard Life and released their new single "Tears" the same day.[21] [22]
| Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [24] | IRE [25] | SCO | ||||||
| Life's a Beach | 2 | 47 | 4 | |||||
| MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE... |
| 2 | — | 2 | ||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||
| Details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | SCO | |||||
| 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. | ||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Sales | ICE [30] | SCO [31] | ||||||||
| "pockets" | 2017 | — | — | — | creature habits | |||||
| "frank" | 2018 | — | — | — | ||||||
| "nightmares" | 54 | — | 82 |
| life's a beach | |||||
| "temporary love" | — | — | — | rowspan="2" | ||||||
| "houseplants" | 2019 | — | — | — | ||||||
| "sunday" | — | — | — | spaceships | ||||||
| "earth" | — | — | — | junk food | ||||||
| "nice guys" | — | — | — | |||||||
| "sangria" | — | — | — | |||||||
| "dead celebrities" | 2020 | — | — | — | ||||||
| "peanut butter" / "petty crime" | — | — | — | see you later maybe never (demos) | ||||||
| "daydreams" | — | — | — | life's a beach | ||||||
| "a message to myself" | 2021 | — | — | — | ||||||
| "skeletons" | — | 14 | — | |||||||
| "have a great day" | — | 9 | — | |||||||
| "ocean view" | — | 18 | — | |||||||
| "BEESWAX" | 2022 | — | — | — | MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE... | |||||
| "DEAR MISS HOLLOWAY" | — | — | — | |||||||
| "OTT" | — | — | — | |||||||
| "FORTUNE COOKIE" | — | — | — | |||||||
| "trust exercises"[32] | 2023 | 4 | — | — | rowspan="2" | |||||
| "tears" | 2024 | — | — | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||
|-|2020|Easy Life|NME Best New British Act||}