Amrit Virdi
With an aura of self-acceptance and serenity, Easy Life’s debut album ‘life’s a beach’ introspectively looks at the deeper meanings of life, love and the world. The Leicester five-piece combined mellow lyricism with upbeat production to create an eclectic yet cohesive record representative of the musical uniqueness.
Relevant to the struggles in modern society, even the album artwork of a sinking car represents one of the main tropes of the album, which is surviving and staying true to yourself in the world. Opening track a message to myself, with its experimental instrumentation, is essentially lead singer Murray Matravers’ words of wisdom to his fans, telling them to ‘’stay focused, stay hopeful’’ and ‘’just be yourself’’.
The album introspectively explores mental health and societal expectations. living strange tackles suicidal thoughts and finding solace in strangers while dealing with the consequences of fame. Similarly, nightmares explains the feelings of feeling alone in your struggles, yet acknowledges that with ‘’everybody on the brink of crisis’’ you aren’t alone. It is refreshing to see Easy Life use their platform and connection to the young listening population to speak about mental health, drawing parallels to the work of indie bands such as The 1975 who have aimed for a similar goal.
The album introspectively explores mental health and societal expectations
While the band fits neatly into the ‘indie’ genre, the album excels when it plays with experimental production and lyricism. Matravers’ seamless flow between rap and song in tracks such as homesickness adds to the easy-going nature of the album, which in turn leads to the album being a cohesive debut. Upbeat tracks skeletons and daydreams, previously released as singles, are the album’s defining tracks and are repeat listens, being typical feel-good indie tracks.
Yet the band’s unique charm shines through on occasion. Most notably, the stream of consciousness freestyle spoken word in closing track music to walk home to is an innovative end to the album, and reminds the listener that the Leicester five-piece, despite their rising levels of fame, are just ordinary people who experience the same mundane aspects of life that we do.
The record has a homegrown feel, with the Midlands accent of Matravers being hard to miss
Mainly taking a modern electronic stance towards the production, the record has a homegrown feel, with the Midlands accent of Matravers being hard to miss. Being a lockdown-produced album, hearing Easy Life at their electronic roots is refreshing and emphasises the band’s authenticity. Yet in places such as the interlude, the use of instrumentation is welcome, as the mighty orchestral fanfare reminds fans of the band’s versatility.
With their resistance to shying away from taboo topics along with their unique musicality, the future is bright for Easy Life. They have made their mark in the indie scene with life’s a beach, which is available to stream now.
Amrit Virdi
Featured image courtesy of Joe Vozza via Wikimedia. Image license found here. No changes made to this image.
In-article image courtesy of @easylife via instagram.com. No changes made to this image.
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