From 2017’s instant-classic ‘Pockets’ onwards, hard life's generational songwriting and genre-wide approach has spoken volumes beyond more trademark. It's a journey that has already taken in two number 2 charting albums (life's a beach, MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE...), collaborations with the likes of Arlo Parks, Kevin Abstract and FINNEAS, plus star-making turns ranging from Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage to Alexandra Palace. Coming out of the not-inconsiderable shadow of a global pandemic, hard lifewere sucked into a legal battle and level of public scrutiny that won the nation’s hearts, but put their livelihoods completely on the line. The turning point, ironically, was a long-haul flight. In 2024 Murray Matravers moved to Japan, having quietly quit music and sought solace from a streak of breakups (romantically, professionally, and personally). In Tokyo he connected with another wandering stranger, Taka, and spontaneously started making new hard life music hardened by experience but also compassionate, confident, and care-free. First single ‘othello’, for instance, is about making peace with chaos unfolding, when there is no “black or white” to rage against. Upcoming album onion is a suitably layered project that arrives alongside a raw, but refined cinematic aesthetic, set to follow in July. It’s a messy chapter that closes, too, on a homecoming: Murray returned to Leicester in December 2024, reconnecting with the wider hard life live band ahead of their return to shows this summer. And having spent his young career matching unsteady circumstances with unvarnished positivity, in moments tragic and comic - and for legal reasons, easy and hard - life seemingly has a way of disrupting Murray Matravers’ best laid plans. The hard life of 2025 is as much a welcome return as it is an exhilarating fresh start: British pop’s underdog, with added bite.
