When we last saw Murray Matravers, he was on the cusp of dropping his second Number 2 album, giddy from a relaxed period of self-growth and creative exploration without pressure. He anticipated a big festival season and dreamed of writing a new album in his new favourite city, Tokyo.
Almost three years later, he’s spending those long stints in Japan, has a slick new record in the bag, and UK tour dates incoming. It sounds smooth enough, but if you’ve paid any attention to his band’s journey, you’ll know smooth was never the objective.
A six-year streak of unwavering momentum was finally forced to a halt when the group – formerly easy life, now rebranded as hard life – were hit with a lawsuit from easyGroup in 2023. Faced with the choice of caving to the demands of a multinational conglomerate or risking financial collapse and creative silence, they chose the former. Even with their willingness to comply, the legal proceedings would hang over them, their reputation, and their relationships in a big way. In hindsight, Murray sees that the pause was inevitable.
“Since we got signed in 2017, we’d been on tour or working the whole time. We were so lucky, we had momentum, and it was something we were all in together. It was a priority for all of us. We were in our early twenties and didn’t have much else going on in our lives, but there were a lot of us in the band who could have done with a break,” he admits. Fractures papered over for years finally had time and space to surface.
