Interview: easy life’s ‘MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE…’ Is a Party Unlike Any You’ve Attended

easy life’s Murray Matravers opens up about the band’s dreamily soul-stirring sophomore album ‘MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE…’, an intimate and honest record dealing with melancholy, escape, and life’s silver linings.

‘MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE…’ – easy life

I lock myself away and I write these songs that might come across happy, but that’s just my ladder to sort of escape the depths of my own despair.

Leicester’s easy life are having the time of their lives while spilling their guts in song. Who says vulnerability can’t be the life of the party?

“There’s this British thing that we do where we don’t talk about how we feel,” easy life’s frontman Murray Matravers says. “I like that part of our culture, but it can be very damning and very isolating. Hopefully people can slowly shake that loose, and we can become more American in our mannerisms, ’cause you guys just say whatever the f*ck you want, and I like that. Honestly, it’s contagious, it’s modern, and it’s refreshing.”

Released October 7, 2022 via Geffen Records, easy life’s sophomore album is a dreamy, grounded record of reverie and revelry: Heart-on-sleeve confessionals and intimate, inner reckonings come to life alongside nostalgia-laced stories of late night adventures, rambunctious antics, and classic escapades with your best mates.

For the band’s frontman Murray Matravers, this album feels just like a little hug. “Everything’s so saturated and distorted, but in a really cozy kinda way,” he says with a smile.

Arriving only a year and change after easy life’s critically acclaimed debut album life’s a beach (which contained the breakout hit “nightmares” as well as standouts like “skeletons” and “ocean view”), MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE… finds easy life embracing a more organic suite of instruments.

“We were keen to switch up the sonics,” Matravers notes, listing off acoustic guitar, piano, and “real-sounding” drums that stand in contrast to the programmed drums and synths that defined their debut. “We made a shift sonically to kind of a more classic ’70s sounding palette.”

You’re way too OTT,
Wish you’d go slowly,
I think you’ve had quite enough,
Time to get back on the bus,

You ought to keep it low-key,
You’re too close to OD,
I only tell you out of love,
Just try to keep your head above water.

– “OTT,” easy life ft. BENEE

This conscious musical change occurred alongside Matravers’ more unconscious transition toward a confessional style of songwriting: One that shirks the machismo of “traditional” masculinity, in favor of a more open dialogue about emotions and identity.

“This album feels a lot more explicitly melancholy,” he says. “I think the melancholy was hidden in amongst the uplifting nature of the instrumentals a lot of the time in previous easy life work. It feels a little bit more raw now, which I think I like, but there was always that juxtaposition of emotive poetry with really carefree instrumentals.”

I only ever write songs when I’m feeling, I don’t know how to finish that sentence, but I certainly have never written a song when I feel happy.

MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE… was forged in pandemic-fueled escapist fantasies.

“You never stop and appreciate where you’ve come from, how you got here, and you never deal with any of the traumas or the mistakes that you’ve made you,” Matravers reflects. “If anything, you just bury them, and you just crack on. But I was lucky enough to have this forced time of reflection, and during that I wrote this album and I think it’s been really helpful, and it’s been really insightful. I feel like I’m on a path to becoming a better person, which feels great. I know for sure I’ve got a lot of work to do, but this album definitely was like the foundations of trying to be more honest with myself and  trying to better myself – and that’s a positive thing.”

“I’ve always written directly from personal experience, but this one, at times I was actually really nervous about playing any of these songs to anyone, let alone pressing them onto vinyls and selling them to strangers. It’s a big leap from sitting alone in a studio to having to share these thoughts.”

From the radiant strut of “Basement” and Atwood Editor’s Pick “OTT,” to the boisterous flow of “Beeswax,” to the tender reflections of “Bubble Wrap,” “Memory Loss,” and “Moral Support,” MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE… is a party unlike any you’ve ever been to: One of spilled souls and open hearts, existential aches and honest inquiries into the great unknown. Through it all, Matravers and his band mates Oliver Cassidy, Sam Hewitt, Lewis Berry, and Jordan Birtles – alongside special guests BENEE, Gus Dapperton, and Kevin Abstract – inject an undeniable strain of hope into the looming darkness: As dismal as things may get sometimes, all is never lost. As Matravers sings in the album’s heavy-hearted finale “Fortune Cookie,” “If you believe you’re in need of repair, take care, take care.”

I got your love, I got your moral support,
I got exactly what I bargained for,
You give me everything I need and more, and I got nowhere to put it.

You cracked a window, left an open door,
I hope you found what you were looking for,
And there was me thinking you’re at the store, fuck.

So when, the sun is shining down upon your face,
Don’t feel out of place – that’s where you belong.

And then, you’re gone without a trace,
Into cyberspace – I hope you won’t be long.

– “Moral Support,” easy life

If MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE… leaves us with one overarching takeaway, let it be that it’s okay to be honest with yourself and honest with your friends. It’s okay to pour your guts out.

“They’re very personal, and they’re very raw,” Matravers says of easy life’s new songs, “but I think there’s a lot of power in being vulnerable and allowing yourself to be vulnerable.”

easy life are dwelling in the deep end, having fun, and holding nothing back.

Dive into the stirring depths of MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE… in Atwood Magazine‘s interview with easy life’s Murray Matravers, and listen to this stunning triumph of a sophomore album wherever you get your music.

There’s a lot more existential looking real deep – who are you, why are you like this, and why are you such a weirdo? All those kind of questions that we do end up asking ourselves at some point in our life.

— —

:: stream/purchase MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE… here ::

Stream: “OTT” – easy life, BENEE

A CONVERSATION WITH EASY LIFE

Murray Matravers: You know what, once I’ve finished a project, I just never think about it ever again. As soon as the best day for me is mastering, ’cause I go there and sometimes it takes more than a day sure. But the last day is always just such bliss ’cause I never have to listen to those songs ever again. And then when we play them live, they take on a new sort of energy entirely. So sure, I still have to listen to the songs from ‘life’s a beach’ in that way. But in terms of albums and stuff like even this one, I finished it. As soon as it’s out that’ll be me, now, I’ll just move on to the next one. So I don’t know, ‘life’s a beach’ was great. It was such an important time for us and it was a mental time.

And during that campaign everything was brand new and exciting. And now is like seasoned veterans of the promo game. So we’re going through the motions now and it doesn’t feel so far and yeah, it feels good. But everything was just new and exciting then. So putting out your first album does feel different to putting out your second album, it does. But I don’t know if it’s better or worse than this. I don’t know. But yeah, I don’t… Also, I’m surprised at how prolific I’ve been to be honest. I didn’t intend to… Truly didn’t intend to do two albums in the space of a couple of years. And going forward, I’m gonna take… I know that it would take me longer to make the third one ’cause I have no songs for the first time ever. I’ve run out of songs. I haven’t written a song for months. I haven’t tried. I’ve got nothing to talk about. I’ve talked about it all on this album. I don’t know how people carry on doing this for so long. It’s like how do you always have something to say? ‘Cause I’m fresh out of ideas.

Murray Matravers: [laughs] Wow. You know what, just to plug our smash global hit “nightmares” is still like, even though that’s the oldest song on there, it still feels good to me, and it’s still… There’s something about that song which just feels so relevant to me all the time. ‘Cause I spent my whole life just bitching about my feelings and no one cares. And that’s basically the whole thing with that song. So I don’t think that one will ever get tired. But all of the songs are so personal and they all… If I was to listen to them, the recordings, I’m sure I’d be transported right back to the headspace that I was in and the time in place for sure. But like I said, I don’t indulge myself with those things ’cause if anything, I might hear an imperfection and be like, “Oh my God, as if.” And I’ll never stop hearing that. Oh, yeah, I don’t know. But ‘life’s a beach’ is dead to me. I was just maybe in another life in two weeks’ time. [chuckle]

Murray Matravers: That’s amazing. That is amazing, I love that.

Murray Matravers: I know, I’ve always found that fascinating. And something which I thought, to be honest, we did that better on the first album than we have on this album. This album feels a lot more explicitly melancholy. I think the melancholy was hidden in amongst the uplifting nature of the instrumentals a lot of the time in previous easy life work. It feels a little bit more raw now, which I think I like, but there was always, yeah, that juxtaposition of like actually quite emotive poetry with really just carefree instrumentals, it always felt really interesting, and I think that’s why people have responded to easy life the way they have.

I always referenced ABBA for that exact same thing, ’cause like, they did that so well. You know, like ostensibly ABBA is just like some cheesy Euro pop, but actually the lyrics are, they’re so potent, and they’re so sad a lot of the time, but everyone just hands in the air screaming the lyrics, you know? And it’s… I love that that blend because again, to talk about “nightmares” it’s a good example ’cause it’s actually a really dark, depressing song, but everyone sings it with a smile on their face. And so do I. And you know it’s an interesting blend.

Murray Matravers: I think so. I think so ’cause I only ever write songs when I’m feeling, I don’t know how to finish that sentence, but I certainly have never written a song when I feel happy. I’ve never been happy. If I’m happy, then I’m out and about enjoying my life, like doing normal shit.

Murray Matravers: Exactly. And if I feel any other way, then I’m like, right, the only way to get out of this route is to write a song about it or like to, or just, I feel introspective and introverted, and I’m on my own. I lock myself away, and I write these songs far enough that might come across happy, but that’s just my ladder to sort of escape the depths of my own despair, you know?

Murray Matravers: I don’t know. Yes, I think I’m an optimist. Whether or not that makes me a happy person, I don’t know. I’d like to think so. Yeah, I’d like to think so. I spend an equal measure. I’m both a lot of light and a lot of dark too. I don’t know.

Murray Matravers: I think it’s bigger than COVID. I think I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating COVID on the first record, and this one was really me looking at like, there’s a lot more existential looking real deep, like who are you, why are you like this, and why are you such a weirdo? All those kind of questions that we do end up asking ourselves at some point in our life.

Murray Matravers: Yeah. I mean, I think we had this amazing opportunity to just reflect on the easy life journey thus far. And also the journey just through life like, we’d obviously got to the end of our first album, and it was still in the middle of lockdown. None of us were touring. No one was asking me to write any music. I was kind of just kind of coasting. I wasn’t very busy, and I took the opportunity to write the album, but because I stopped, I hadn’t really stopped until, since, you know, since like primary school. Like, you go to school, you do that, and then you go to secondary school, you do your exams, and then you’re like, you leave school sure. You might go to college. I didn’t, I was just working and all. You never stop and appreciate where you’ve come from, how you got here.

And you never deal with any of the traumas or the mistakes that you’ve made you. If anything, you just bury them, and you just crack on and you’re like, “No, next, next, next, next, next, just gotta keep going, gotta keep going.” But I was lucky enough to have this like forced time of reflection, and during that I wrote this album and I think it’s been really helpful, and it’s been really insightful. I feel like I’m on a path to becoming a better person, which feels great, you know? It really does. I know for sure I’ve got a lot of work to do, but this album definitely was like the foundations of trying to be more honest with myself and trying to like, yeah just trying to better myself and that’s a positive thing, you know?

Murray Matravers: An obvious example is Mike Skinner with Original Pirate Material, he would say that line a lot; Tyler, The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost as well, that happens quite a few times, and I just love it. So I took the album’s title.

I like to start with titles if I can. Writing a song, I always try to start with a title. It’s not always the case, but nine times out of ten it is and with this album, I wanted to again, start with the title and “Dear Miss Holloway” was the first song I wrote for the album, and I had this chorus maybe in another life and I just thought that’s perfect, and I wanted to sort of create this fairytale universe and like this alternate reality where everything was perfect. And we built the sort of artwork around that idea. And I kept playing with the concepts of what could have been and later on that kind of forged into ideas of regret and kind of mistakes. And I guess that’s when the album takes a slight, darker turn in places. But in general, it’s just about the idea of possibility and consequences and actions and how that all into place.

I was very much just looking at myself being like, how did I get here? ‘Cause I don’t necessarily think I set out to get here and also like, time goes so quick, you know, like it really does and that’s another thing. I don’t really talk about that on the record, but I’ve just sort of noticed like freaking out like none of us are getting any younger and it’s just like, “Oh, you just gotta make sure to use your time wisely.” And I think I was just looking back and being like, “Am I on a good path? Is this where I wanted to be? Am I happy? Am I being honest with my relationships?” And things like that. And yeah, all those songs came out of those ideas, but ‘MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE… ‘ is just like, “What could have been, I mean, who knows?”

Oh dear Miss Holloway,
You’re still on my mind,
I reminisce about us sometimes,
You started seeing someone new for a while,
I read about it somewhere online.

Maybe in another life,
We could try and roll the dice and get it right.
‘Cause when there’s no-one else in sight,
Can’t help but think that we might get it right.

‘Cause we’re forever near-misses,
Dodged a couple of kisses,
You were never my missus, but we came kinda’ close.
I’ve had plenty of fishes,
Now you’re close like my sis’ is,
Send the warmest of wishes but I keep hitting the post.
And you only ever message on my birthday,
Or when you feel lonely; feel thirsty,
And we said if we ain’t married by thirty, we might…

Murray Matravers: I don’t think they overlap too much. If anything, like I was quite keen for them to sound and be different. I was nervous that the two things would be same here. I hate it when that happens with a band or an artist that I like. And I’m like, “Oh man. But you’ve just written the same song again 15 times.” And we were keen to switch up the sonics and we started using a lot more organic instruments rather than like strictly doing like program drums and program synth, like just synthesizers. This time there’s like acoustic guitar and well, like real sounding drums. They weren’t real. I did program them all, but they sound real.

And there’s piano, real piano. We made a shift sonically to kind of like a more classic ’70s sounding palette, I guess. And thematically, I also felt I was… I was just writing how I felt, and I’ve always done that, but I’ve sometimes kind of shied away from… I think I’ve always done the usual spin it in a positive way, but I do notice on this album where there’s tracks where it’s just not done that, and they are a lot more raw, but there wasn’t really much crossover. I think it’s important for us to just separate things and compartmentalize ideas and songs especially.

Murray Matravers: You know what? I stumbled across it by accident when we made “Dear Miss Holloway”. We had made this… We’d found this new aesthetic and this new sound. And even the songwriting, it was different to me, and I’ve written this one song where then I got the title and I thought, “You know what? I’m gonna make a whole album that sounds like this.” I’m obsessed.

Murray Matravers: Yeah. There really is and there’s so much… Everything’s so saturated and distorted, but in a really cozy kinda way. And it feels just like a little hug to me. I really like it, and I’m so glad that I’ve followed my instincts and just decided to take the sound in that direction. ‘Cause I think it’s quite interesting, and it sounds retro, but I still think it’s modern sounding. I’m convinced that it’s a fresh and new place. I’m really excited. But that’s not to say that this is where we belong now. I’m definitely gonna fucking switch up and do something completely different for the next album.

Mum said that I would forget my head if it weren’t screwed on,
Bumping a sad string quartet in my headphones as my theme song.

I attempt to jog the memory loss,
Nostalgically eat candy floss and supplements I bought from a quack.
Perhaps I need some stronger sauce,
It’s hung like an albatross around my neck – it’s breaking my back.

Lose every Monopoly game we would play on the weekend.
Think I lost my virginity under a tree, now that’s some achievement.

And thinking back in retrospect, I should’ve had more respect,
No regrets but hindsight’s a bitch. I should have practiced safer sex,
Should have practice happiness, should have scratched every itch.

And it’s all downhill from here,
So I buckle up and hope I’ll survive this slippy slope.
I’m an unwilling volunteer – like an animal under a microscope.

– “Memory Loss,” easy life

Murray Matravers: I don’t know. It’s hard. Sometimes, people often ask me if I’m… I’m not really trying to provoke much of a reaction, to be honest. I do it all for myself. For me, it felt like I learned to be honest or more honest, which I think is a good thing that people could take away if they were able to be more honest with their feelings and shit. That’d be a good place to start.

Murray Matravers: Very much so, yeah 100%. Increasingly more so. I mean, I’ve always written direct from personal experience, but this one, at times I was actually really nervous about playing any of these songs to anyone, let alone pressing them onto vinyls and selling them to strangers. It’s a big leap from sitting alone in a studio to having to share these thoughts. Especially like you said, those songs you picked up on “Memory Loss” and “Moral Support,” they’re very personal, and they’re very raw. But I think there’s a lot of power in being vulnerable and allowing yourself to be vulnerable. And that’s something that I hope the fans can take away from. There’s none of this idea of being closed off and macho.

And there’s also this British thing that we do where we don’t talk about how we feel, and we are just very, very polite at all times. And I like that part of our culture, but it can be very damning and very isolating. And hopefully people can slowly shake that loose, and we can become more American in our mannerisms ’cause you guys just say whatever the fuck you want. And I like that. I honestly, it’s contagious. It’s good. It’s good. It’s modern and it’s refreshing.

Murray Matravers: I think so. That’s Britain for you, man. That’s literally, we’ve got centuries of that shit. Honestly, there’s a lot of unresolved trauma that this country needs to deal with, and we are dealing with it in the worst way possible. It’s sad to see, it’s sad to see. But anyway.

Murray Matravers: It’s funny, it’s funny because I’m really quite quiet until we start talking about music, then you can’t shut me up. They hear these experiences for the first time through the music, so they’re like, “Are you alright mate?” [laughs]

They’ll never say that. Usually they just comment on the musicality or like, “Yeah, I like this part, or this melody’s good.” But there was one song called “Fortune Cookie” which is the last song on the album, I actually wrote that for a member of the band who has been really struggling with his mental health, and we’ve been through a lot of shit together. And he’s been through a lot, too.

And there was more than one occasion where I couldn’t really find the words to… Sometimes there is no words and on that song, one day I wrote that song and it was, again, more for me and less for him, to be honest. It was my way of explaining to myself how he had made me feel in a way. It’s a selfish endeavor writing music, but I would send it to him. And he called me up crying, and we had this amazing cathartic moment which I will always remember where I was able to say so much through the song that I couldn’t say face to face. And I know that he appreciated it. And we’ve come a long way since I shared that song. So there are times when it works positively, but there’s also other times when it’s just hilarious ’cause they’re like, “No way is this line about that thing that happened last week?” I’m like, “Yeah, it is, it is.” But it’s fun. It’s much my barriers as theirs in some ways.

When the chips are down,
Don’t you go ahead and doubt yourself,
‘Cause I haven’t seen you around much lately,
So don’t do nothing stupid.

When the penny drops, that you’re sat on a fortune cookie,
Saying pull up your socks, ‘cause nothing out there can hurt you.

And you say you want to see somebody about it,
Say you want to be somebody else elsewhere.
If you believe you’re in need of repair,
Take care, take care.
If you believe you’re in need of repair,
Take care, take care.

When the curtains close, and the photos are all that we have left,
It’s time to strike a pose, looking back, we will piss ourselves.

Murray Matravers: We do a lot of stupid shit on tour and that verse is just about that, it is hilarious. Being in a band’s fucking hilarious mate, like 9 times outta 10. We just take the piss.

Murray Matravers: So the band easy life, we’re from a city called Leicester, which is in the middle of the country. And back in my heyday of partying, which is a few years back now, there was this club called Basement. And me and the lads, when we first started the band and when we were getting to know each other, we used to go there all the time. They did an amazing night on a Thursday and also a Friday and a Saturday.

I’d be there all the time, man. And growing up and being my younger self I’d enjoy partying and I was very confused like all young men are. And I’d spend a lot of my time going there and getting smashed. And it’s since changed hands. It’s still called the Basement but it’s not a shadow of its former self sadly. It used to play amazing music as well. It was like a really cool, cool spot. Anyway, so that was what inspired the song. It’s about a night to our favorite club in Leicester.

So I was trying to internalize it, but that’s the surface level shit. It’s also just dealing with the idea of like, yeah, why do we get fucked up on the weekend? Like why do we do that? So I think it’s just escapism, isn’t it? We’ve all like not dealing with shit that if we dealt with it, probably there’d be no need to get off our faces and so there’s a darker side to it, but it is just a party tune as well. It’s a fun one to play and yeah, we love it. We love its high energy.

Now we’re both sitting here on this two-seater,
With dopamine rushing, no question, trust me I’m buzzing you came!
Yeah, but don’t mind the neighbours, ‘cause they all come in peace,
All these familiar faces looking not so familiar,
Understatement,
Yeah, as long as I’m a legend in the making.

I feel the wheels coming off,
I think I had a little too much – worry about it later,
I can’t recall if you were even in the building,
Got me thinking, are we there yet?

Well, it all started off in the basement,
Just me and my mates trying to mark the occasion,
Girls popping pills and stare at their reflection, like,
“What do I actually look like that?”
“Bro, I’m ruined man”
“Jesus.”

Murray Matravers: We’d had a really bad run of shows and a couple things that we hadn’t really got right. And the voicemail that Sam leaves me at the end is, he called me after this thing had gone to shit, and he was like, “Oh bro, I hope you’re okay.” And at the time I was writing this song and then yeah, I was moving house. ‘Cause when lockdown happened in England, for various reasons I was having to move house quite a lot because I have quite vulnerable parents, and then we were trying to avoid blah blah, blah. You know how it goes. Yeah, I was moving out a lot and all my shit was just wrapped up in bubble wrap in various places in England. And that’s where I got the title from. But it’s actually a lot more about just being lost really, to be honest. And that’s probably one of the saddest moments of the album. But again, I think it still feels there’s a glimmer of hope in there. There is.

And I’m in denial but I do it in style.
Ooh, I know that I’ve been here for a while
‘cause it’s been making me smile,
And everybody needs a little bit more happiness in their life.

All I see is static and amateur dramatics,
attention-seeking tactics,
I swear, I’ve seen some crazy things,
Yeah, I’ve been on some mad shit.
So just leave me in the attic, bubble wrapped in plastic.

Murray Matravers: I find that just the only thing I can write about is this dimension. I can’t do the whole Meta thing very well. I need something physical to inspire me. Hence, why I write about fucking peanut butter. There’s not really a metaphor there other than like a cupboard full of peanut butter and the bubble wrap’s the same.

Murray Matravers: Yeah! It was time on the album for us to get a little bit like, dare I say like a little bit cocky, a bit arrogant. It’s got some boisterous energy. We all have these little pieces of ourselves, and I always use these tiny pieces and extract them and make a song out of them. You know, like “Bubble Wrap” and “Moral Support” and “Memory Loss”. They’re like the sad, lonely child that I haven’t yet comforted and that’s who’s singing there. And on “BEESWAX” it’s like, some my alter ego, it’s just like the drunken bravado comes out, it’s just fucking let’s go. And, I’m glad I can write a few songs using that character ’cause it’s just a lot of fun. I even changed my voice on that song. I pitched the voice and change it. So it’s even like I am embodying a version of myself, which is much more empowered and bigger. You know?

Mic-check, pay cheque, from the Axis back to the apex,
I keep testing, stay plugged-in,
Keep smoking smoke ’til my breath stinks.
Could have been a kingpin, stay linking,
Like Jay-Z, yeah big pimpin’,
Now we take off, on Bake Off,
Won’t-won’t-won’t sleep ’til my days off, ahh yeah.

Waiting for the climax,
Wrap me up in gift wrap,
You should pack a sick bag,
Burning up on contact,
I’ll be in my sequence,
It’s none of your business,
You should mind your beeswax.

…Ahh, yes I’m aware of my privilege,
Yes I’m aware that I’m killing it,
Up on my pennies now they’re tryna pinch,
Taking a mile when I give them an inch.
Everybody round me taking the biscuit and the milk out of the fridge,
Jump in the Ford end up in the ditch,
Minding my business, don’t give a shit.

Murray Matravers: Yeah, absolutely. It’s important for me – our personalities as people are made up of so many different pieces. No one is just strictly introverted or strictly extroverted or that person’s like really boisterous or that person’s really shy. Like, no, these people, we’re complex, we have everything in us and it’s whichever one is the most powerful on a given day dictates the mood of the day. So I think easy life’s exactly the same. Sometimes I go to the studio feeling shit and other times I feel like on top of the world. So like just…

Murray Matravers: Do you know what, like, I’m not just avoiding your question. I cannot remember lyrics very well from, I can’t just start in… I have to start at the very start of a song. It’s like a muscle memory, when I sing the first word, it’s like I can go the whole song, but to pick just something off the top of my head’s really hard for me. But favorite lyrics, oh man, I really don’t know.

Murray Matravers: Wow, that’s a great question. I really don’t know. I think I try not to have favorites, but one of, between you and I really like… I’ve always really loved “Moral Support”. Like, I wrote that with some friends really late at night and just really easily, and it sounds like a lot of the songs that I grew up listening to. And for that reason, it just reminds me of every Bee Gees song ever. And I just love the chords and the harmony and the way it moves. I just love it, yeah, the chords for me are just really special. I really like that one. But that said, I like “BEESWAX”  – it’s fun! It’s a lot of fun to play live.

I mean, now, like I said at the start of this chat, now my relationship with the album will be very much through our live show because it’s, I don’t listen to those recordings anymore. So the album will take on a whole new energy. But the songs that really resonate with me, like tonight for example, on stage they’ll be like “Basement” and “BEESWAX” and “Growing Pains”, like the more like high energy ones because that’s a lot of fun to do live and “Moral Support” might take a slight backseat because it’s a little bit more intimate and doesn’t necessarily work in a live setting so well.

Murray Matravers: Yeah. I need a hug more often than not. So it’s a good one for me.

Murray Matravers: Right now I’ve been listening to so much Bon Iver and I know that all your readers already know who this is. So sorry for this shit. But like, I kind of rediscovered the ‘I, I’ album from like a few years ago ’cause, I was having like a bit of a freakout, and I was trying to find some music that I know would like sooth me the other day. And it was Lou, the guitarist was like, “Bro re-listen to this album. It’s crazy.” In my own headphones it sounds mad, and I’ve just like not been able to stop listening to it. So yeah, sorry to plug-light the biggest artist in the world, but yeah, Bon Iver.

Murray Matravers: It’s crazy. Like, there’s nothing else like it. It’s just so, it’s so amazing. He’s a genius.

Murray Matravers: You know what, I can appreciate art and genius as much as the next person, and he’s definitely, he is a true artist. You know, there’s a few of them still doing it. I just this morning watched Kendrick’s performance on some US television late night thing, only a few days ago. Check it out – it’s just sensational. Kendrick is a genius, you know? There’s a couple people I put on that pedestal; Kanye, I know he is controversial, but he’s right up there as well. Obviously Tyler, The Creator, he’s getting there too. There’s loads of people, Childish Gambino as well. His shows are crazy. I can appreciate it when they get to that level, and they’re using their influence to do amazing shit. Good, true artists are always pioneering and pushing themselves to the next level, and I respect anyone who’s doing that. Justin Vernon is definitely that every time.

Murray Matravers: You know what, I just had like the best time making this record. It felt like the first time I started writing music all over again. You know, I used to write it for fun in my own time, long before easy life was even a thing. And, since then, obviously you have to start writing it because we are signed and have to write music for a living, which is obviously amazing. But this one I just did it for me and I hope people just enjoy that and enjoy the honesty and the realness of it. The rawness as well. I love making it. I’m so glad, it’s rekindled my love of writing music. It really has. So I’m very lucky.

— —

:: stream/purchase MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE… here ::

— — — —

Connect to easy life on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Discover new music on Atwood Magazine

? © Jack Bridgland

:: Stream easy life ::