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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Häagen-Dazs is handing out FREE ice cream in Manchester this weekend
Emily Sergeant
Fancy a summery sweet treat? Häagen-Dazs will he handing out free ice cream in Manchester this weekend.
Ahead of what is set to be a busy season of sport, with events such as Wimbledon, the Olympics, and of course, UEFA Euro 2024 – which has already kicked off, and is now well underway – all in the calendar over the next couple of months, Häagen-Dazs has announced it’s heading out on tour for the summer to bring a bit of “alternative entertainment” to the UK’s biggest cities.
And what better way to kick things off than right here in Manchester?
Ice cream lovers who “aren’t too fussed by the footy” will be able to make the most of what the company is calling a “sanctuary of indulgence” down at Spinningfields Square, in the heart of the city centre, this weekend.
Häagen-Dazs is handing out free ice cream in Manchester this weekend / Credit: Häagen-Dazs UK (via Instagram)
All sounding set to be one of the sweetest pop-ups the city’s seen in a while, there’ll be deck chairs to lounge on, a disco van, a bunch of live performances, seasonal lawn games for all the family to get stuck into, and of course, some delicious ice cream to cool you down on what’s been a stunning week of sunshine for Greater Manchester.
With Englandhopefully set to play their first match in the Round of 16 at the Euros this weekend, anyone keen to escape the sports frenzy can nip to Spinningfields this Saturday (29 June) from 4-5pm for a free scoop of ice cream instead.
The ice cream brands disco van will be popping up in Spinningfields / Credit: Supplied
Belgian Chocolate, Salted Caramel, and Strawberry Cheesecake will be just some of the indulgent Häagen-Dazs flavours on offer.
When it comes to the entertainment on the day, you can expect to see Britain’s Got Talent’s musical comedy finalist, the hilarious Micky P Kerr, take to the stage, as well as enjoy a DJ set from local artist, DJ Fastlove, on the rooftop of the disco ice cream van.
Häagen-Dazs Flavour Club will be at Spinningfields Square in Manchester city centre from 1pm right through until 7pm on Saturday 29 June.
Free ice cream bites will be available during the ‘Happy Hour’ from 4-5pm.
Featured Image – Häagen-Dazs UK (via Instagram)
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Paul Scholes sends clear message to Gareth Southgate over England’s Euro 2024 starting 11
Danny Jones
Manchester United legend and former England player Paul Scholes has sent a pretty clear message to manager Gareth Southgate ahead of the Three Lions final group game of Euro 2024.
Southgate‘s side take on Slovenia at 8pm on Tuesday, 25 June and despite having already qualified for the knockout stages, it’s fair to say that many fans and pundits alike haven’t been overwhelmingly impressed with their performances thus far – not least of all Paul Scholes.
It’s fair to say the retired Premier League veteran and ex-England international knows a thing or two about being a midfielder and since finding the right balance in the middle of the park seems to be one of their main issues so far, Scholes isn’t mincing his words when it comes to his critcism.
It remains to be seen whether or not Southgate will indeed start the Chelsea star ahead of any of his other midfielder options but, as you can see, Scholes wants to see the player with the best footballing “brain” come into replace the Liverpool right-back, who was tried there due to his passing range.
While there’s no question that Alexander-Arnold is an intelligent footballer – hence why he was given the nod to play at the base of the midfield in the first place – he isn’t exactly an energetic, box-to-box midfielder or someone with loads of expefrience in the position for his club, let alone for his country.
With that in mind, Scholes made it very clear that he believes Man United‘s breakthrough talent from this season, Kobbie Mainoo, should be preferred ahead of any other player being rotated into the starting 11, having emerged as one of the best midfielders in the league and scoring the winner in the FA Cup final.
And in case anyone was doubting that Mainoo is indeed the player that Scholes was referring to, he said just as much to TNT Sports, claiming “if he came in [to the team], all of a sudden you have control” and adding that sometimes it only takes on player to make the rest of the tick.
"You think of Toni Kroos with Germany, he just makes them play football. Rodri with Man City and Spain. I think Kobbie Mainoo has got the ability to do that."
Paul Scholes believes that Kobbie Mainoo could be the key to unlocking the attacking brilliance of England's midfield… pic.twitter.com/kTiAHj6UlB
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) June 24, 2024
Southgate also irked a lot of fans by overlooking the capabilities of Mainoo, Declan Rice and others when he claimed that he they “don’t have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips”, despite many believing that a number of players could do the job in that pivot so long as you find the right balance around them.
Scholes did ultimately show his support and faith that England will get better as the tournament goes on but he’s making no bones about who he thinks could be the solution for that midfield dilemma that has so long lingered over our teams in years gone by.
Elsewhere, captain Harry Kane was also applauded for his response to recent punditry by ex-national team players Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer who essentially summed up their performance at Euro 2024 so far as “sh*t”.
Emily Sergeant -
12th June 2024 
