The band formerly known as Easy Life have now officially changed their name following a legal battle with easyJet’s owners.
In case you aren’t quite up-to-speed with the ongoing controversy, the alternative indie pop group – which formed in Leicester in 2017 – announced back in October of last year that they were being sued by easyJet airline’s owners, easyGroup, due to their name being too similar and therefore supposedly infringing on copyright.
After fans initially thought the band may have been joking about the legal battle, presuming the budget airline group couldn’t possibly be that bothered about the use of the word ‘easy’, it soon transpired that this wasn’t the case, and that it was, unfortunately, all very genuine.
As well as the band’s name, easyGroup – which is owned by Cypriot billionaire Stelios Haji-Ioannou, and has many companies within its conglomerate using the prefix ‘easy’ – also pointed out that the band had used an image of an orange and white plane, similar to the branding for easyJet, on a poster promoting their ‘Life’s A Beach’ tour.
Mr Haji-Ioannou labelled the band “brand thieves” in a statement at the the time.
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Frontman Murray Matravers then issued an emotional statement in a video posted to the band’s Instagram a few days later, admitting that the case was going to be “extremely expensive to fight in the High Court”.
“We would be undertaking an absolutely massive, potentially two-year-long fight against a billion-dollar corporation,” he continued. “We’re not a limited company. It’s our name on the lawsuit, they could take everything and we could be completely financially ruined – they know that and they are extremely aggressive”.
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Easy Life have officially changed their band name following a legal row with easyJet / Credit: Hard Life (via Facebook)
While the group had initially hoped to fight the case, they were later forced to concede defeat due to finances and realising it was essentially a case of, what they called, “David vs Goliath – and our British legal system favours Goliath”.
And now, coming up to nine months since the initial announcement, the group has officially relaunched and released their first single under their new name, Hard Life.
The new single is called ‘tears’, and it’s essentially one big diss track to easyJet.
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Announcing the new single, alongside an accompanying music, with a short statement shared to their official social media platforms yesterday, Hard Life briefly explained what had been happening during their absence.
“Hey it’s been a while. Safe to say the last 9 months haven’t been easy. New song tears out now,” the statement reads.
The band’s new single, ‘tears’, is instead how they’ve chosen to delve further into the legal battle situation, and, as fans have been thoroughly dissecting in the less than 24-hours since its release, contains a handful of lyrics referencing both their new name, as well as some which are obviously directed and poking fun at easyJet.
“It’s a hard life, I can’t lie, it’s been a rush. In the hard times, luck I got friends that I trust. It was easy in my twenties, now I got to lawyer up, give me air-miles or a fair trial,” one of the most prominent lyrics reads.
Another lyric reads: “There’s no use crying over oat milk, seen artists come and go, now I’ve got survivor’s guilt, but I’ll (keep those teardrops from falling).”
It’s uncertain, at this moment in time, what the band – who released their first single, ‘pockets’ under their former name in 2017, and has two UK top 10 albums – intends to do next, but it’s expected that more music under the name Hard Life is to be shared with the world in due course.
Credit – Island Records / Hard Life (via Facebook)
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The Lottery Winners bring out Boy George, Bez and Jon McClure as special guests at Manchester residency
Danny Jones
It’s been an absolutely unreal 12 months for The Lottery Winners and to top it all, they rounded out the year in style by bringing out not one, not two, but three UK music icons for their recent run of Manchester gigs: Boy George, Bez from Happy Mondays and the Reverend himself, Jon McClure.
The high-flying indie pop group and local legends from Leigh toasted an unbelievable 2024 with their ‘Burning House Party’ residency, playing three consecutive nights at Manchester Academy.
Better yet, with their new album KOKO (Keep On Keeping On) set to release in the new year with several tracks including some rather big feature artists once again, they decided to bring out a few of those famous faces as special guests this past weekend.
The Greater Manchester band genuinely caught everyone by surprise when guitarist Robert Lally did the classic Stars In Their Eyes walk-off and was reintroduced as Boy George himself.
The former Culture Club lead singer went on to perform alongside the Wigan outfit as they played their track, ‘Let Me Down‘ – this being the first time they have performed it together live.
As mentioned, Boy George is just one of many impressive feature artists that The Lottery Winners have notched over the past year or so, having previously worked with Frank Turner, KT Tunstall and even fellow Manc, Shaun Ryder.
The Happy Mondays star featured in the music video for their song ‘Money’ on their last record, ART (Anxiety Replacement Therapy), and was arguably their biggest coup to date next to Turner, who has now worked on several tracks with the four-piece and played live with them on multiple occasions.
As another surprise on night two at Manchester Academy, frontman Thom Rylance might not have been able to bring out Ryder in the flesh, but he did rope in some hype-man help from long-standing band partner and best mate Bez to delight the crowd and shake his trademark maracas throughout.
Set to release in February, their upcoming fourth LP will not only see the return of Frank Turner for his third studio collaboration with the band, but they’re adding even more names into the Northern music mix for this latest record.
As well as songs featuring Rick Witter of Shed Seven and even Chad Kroeger of Nickleback – yes, we said Nickelback – their lead single also features Sheffield favourite Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers.
Their uplifting track ‘You Again’ has enjoyed plenty of radio play since it was released back in September and the Yorkshireman also made an appearance during their city centre residency.
These lot have such a lovely, collaborative thing going on are we are absolutely here for it.
As if things weren’t massive enough already, having supported massive bands like Nickelback and headlining festivals like Kendal Calling this year, 2025 looks set to get even bigger for the gang with a potentially game-changing support slot.
Shayne Ward surprises Altrincham locals with a festive sing-song during Christmas karaoke
Danny Jones
Altrincham residents were treated to an unexpected guest this year as former X-Factor winner Shayne Ward popped into a local pub to join in with some Christmas karaoke.
The singer who won the 2005 edition of the reality show and originally hails from Tameside found himself over Trafford way this holiday season and gave those enjoying a sing-song after a few pints a real surprise last week.
If you’ve spent a decent amount of time in the area, you’ll know The Station Hotel is the place for karaoke and, as it turns out, it’s also the place to see Shayne Ward singing a beloved British ballad.
Who knew when he sang ‘That’s My Goal’ he was talking about delighting crowds in a quaint market town during the festive period?
As you can see, the 40-year-old solo artist turned actor has still got it, delivering a soulful rendition of the Elton John classic ‘Sacrifice’ to a small crowd inside the cosy Alty boozer.
Obviously, the Coronation Street and Good Ship Murder star didn’t need to look at the lyrics for even one second and this is probably one of the best performances the pub has ever or will ever see.
He even manages to take a quick break during the instrumental to grab a nonchalant swig of his drink. Very casual indeed.
Let’s be honest, though: the real star of the show is that woman singing along to every word and pulling out all the stops to remind everyone that no matter who is up on the mic, this is karaoke and you’re obliged to have absolutely zero inhibitions.
Queen.
S̶l̶a̶y̶Sleigh*She ate, as the kids would say. (Credit: The Station Hotel via Facebook)
He may not be releasing tonnes of music or claiming any Christmas number ones these days, but the Greater Manchester native is no stranger to performing.
As well as various jobs on telly and even a few movie roles here and there over the years, Ward also appeared on this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing, ultimately being voted out back in November in one of the most controversial and unpopular decisions of the 2024 season.
That being said, whatever questions may loom over his dance moves, there’s no question he’s still got a great voice and we hope to see him hopping on karaoke somewhere in town again soon.
Emily Sergeant -
12th June 2024 
