“Life’s a Beach” is the newest album release from Universal Music Group’s Island Records, which hit streaming services on May 28 as the debut of UK-based indie band Easy Life. In a recent press conference hosted by UMG’s °1824, Easy Life’s lead vocalist and instrumentalist Murray Matravers spoke on the creation of the album and his philosophy of the band’s self-described “collective uselessness” in their music.

The Band’s Beginnings

The band draws its roots from Leicester, a small town in the United Kingdom, and a music scene with a small degree of separation. As Matravers described it, most musicians in town know of each other, and he consequentially soon fell into collaboration with the people who would become his band members before they were signed in 2017: Oliver Cassidy (drums), Sam Hewitt (bass), Lewis Alexander Berry (guitar) and Jordan Birtles (percussion).

“As a band, we’ve never really been a genre … I think the way that music is digested nowadays with Spotify, inspiration is so readily available,” said Matravers. “There’s songs on the album that are inspired by things from Kendrick Lamar to Dizzy Gillespie.”

Behind the Scenes

Easy Life’s album release rides on the success of several of their singles and accompanying music videos, some of which are featured on the album. The opening track, “A Message to Myself,” is a personal song depicting self-assurance through heavy thoughts, where Matravers’ exposed voice is similar to that of artist Rex Orange County.

Another single on the album, titled “Skeletons,” features dancey percussion that reminds me of Tom Misch’s eclectic, experimental indie album “Geography.”

Matravers described the process of filming the music video for “Skeletons” as shot almost all in one take on a street in South London, superimposed with images of skulls and bones juxtaposing the city’s neon colors.

Another music video with a spot on the tracklist is “Ocean View,” featuring Matravers serenading a human-sized fish puppet against an oceanic backdrop. The song is wistful, and the music video a trip. 

Back to the Music

Matravers’ role in the group is largely as a lyricist — his writing process usually begins with a title and, from the connotations and feelings surrounding a few simple words, his lyrics take shape. As a person with social anxiety, he has learned to embrace this off-the-cuff sort of creation. “We should all just care a lot less, try less hard,” said Matravers. “I got into this weird headspace about trying to write a song that people would like and it was always really bad.”

In his experience writing for the band, overthinking or having intentions to write a hit stifles the really good stuff. “As soon as you start questioning things, you start dialing down your authenticity,” said Matravers.  “I’ve always felt like what I’m trying to do with the easy life lyricism is kind of highlight problems that we all know exist and that we should all talk about, but try and conclude it with, ‘It’s okay because we are all in this together.’ There’s some kind of collective uselessness that we can get from easy life, which is kind of reassuring.”

In a post on the band’s Instagram page promoting their album the week before its release, Matravers said, “it’s an album about wishing you were elsewhere but at the same time encouraging yourself to be present and find pleasure in the little things life has to offer.” Music or otherwise, I’m constantly looking for art that fills this void and, as a new listener, I’ve had “Life’s a Beach” on repeat.

You can listen to “Life’s a Beach” wherever you listen to music, and find more on Easy Life here.

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@keating_hm