Review: Hard Life (formerly Easy Life) Explores Their Resilient and Authentic ‘Onion’ - Atwood Magazine

      Emerging from heartbreak, legal conflicts, and personal turmoil, hard life’s ‘onion’ represents a hard-fought victory that showcases Murray Matravers at his most vulnerable, reflective, and artistically liberated.

      Stream: ‘onion’ – hard life

      Looking back, the beloved British band easy life being sued by a ruthless multinational corporation, compelled to change their name after six years, and ultimately rebranding as “hard life,” suggests something significant about their resulting music. And indeed, it does: onion, the first album by Murray Matravers and his band under their new name, is profoundly personal and beautifully introspective – created during those quiet and honest moments of contemplation where one evaluates their identity, circumstance, and journey.

      This is a thought that Matravers has likely pondered numerous times in recent years, and perhaps if we take the onion metaphor a bit too literally, it clarifies all the layers, the lyrical exploration of self, and the raw, authentic emotions he candidly conveys through these deeply personal fourteen tracks. (The album is named after onion studio in Shirokane, Tokyo, where much of it was composed.)

      “This is the album I’ve always wanted to create,” Matravers shared with Atwood Magazine earlier this year. “It’s raw and honest like I’ve never been before. I also feel the album’s production and sound are breaking new ground for me – it feels thrilling! I’m obsessed with this record – all my friends are tired of hearing it.”

      “I made it for myself,” he added. “The music is bolder than ever, and I believe I’ve crafted something distinctive; I haven’t been in this creative space for a long time, so it feels good to return to a place where I’m creating just to express what’s inside me – it’s liberating.”

      Murray Matravers of hard life states, “It’s a hard life, I can’t pretend, it’s been exhilarating,” in the opening track “tears.” It's cheeky, clever, sincere, and simultaneously classic and contemporary. And truthful: The journey to hard life was as tumultuous as one might expect, with a painful breakup with a long-term partner fueling much of Matravers’ lyrical themes. “I spent a fortune on therapy, if you’re going to kill me, do it quietly,” he sings in “OGRE.”

      “The body keeps the score, don’t ask for help, and even if you do, it’s not available,” he reflects in the standout track “tele9raph hill,” lamenting, “Who knew love would create a hard life” – as brutally self-aware as ever.

      I've come a long way from wetting my pajamas,

      Too shy, bottled up, trouble to express,

      Back then, I wouldn’t even share,

      And that was baggage brought from childhood.

      I did some odd things as a kid,

      During my teenage years, I became quite rebellious,

      Always talking back, putting up a fight.

      So much anger made me physically ill,

      But we smile through it,

      'Cause that's what we learned.

      The body keeps the score,

      Don't ask for help;

      Even if you try, it won't be there,

      As far as they know,

      I'm highly capable,

      Because I made it happen with a plan,

      But there are many parts to a man.

      All these other voices,

      Once silenced, now I’m asking them to stand up,

      Take the stage, raise their hands,

      It's time for them to have a voice and take the mic,

      'Cause it’s not easy being liked,

      Even more challenging being loved.

      Who knew love would create a hard life,

      It’s a hard life...

      

      Matravers acknowledges that his words resonate deeply, as he states in the cinematic closing track, “end credits”: “If you believe you’ve been experiencing my best work, you’ll realize it when you hear it, and every word stings,” he rap-sings, “…Where are my just rewards? I felt better than I did at my lowest, but the last 18 months have blurred every line…” The chorus is equally sobering, which might be difficult for longtime fans to hear (always eager for more, we are), but it also reflects hard life’s earned maturity:

      If this is my end credits,

      I think I'm okay with it.

      I came, I saw,

      I triumphed, I withdrew.

      If this is my end credits,

      I think I'm okay with it.

      If I brought joy to some,

      That’s the sacred part.

      “We, as a band, have endured so much over the past few years – much of which I cannot detail for legal reasons,” Matravers mentioned in the same interview. “That said, I think we've all emerged from it with a new perspective and a

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