TOO MUCH TOO YOUNG? MEET EASY LIFE, AND THE HOMEBOY ALAN BENNETT.
“I’VE BEEN blessed to work with Terry Hall, one of the best lyricists ever, even though it’s never recognised,” says Lynval Golding, on tour with The Specials in Montreal. “Murray’s not far behind. What better bunch of guys to pass the baton on to?”
Golding is talking about Murray Matravers, frontman of Easy Life, a Leicester quintet he first spotted on Later… With Jools Holland. It transpires that Easy Life’s connection runs far deeper – keyboardist Jordan’s father, Gaz Birtles, played saxophone on Fun Boy Three’s first album. “I love the way they put themselves across, they’re so fresh,” Golding adds. “They are the future, without doubt.”
Matravers is quick to return the compliment. “Lots of bands don’t age well, but The Specials are an exception,” he says, “they’ll always be cool.” His own band “fell into each others’ laps completely organically” in 2017. Since then they have garnered millions of streams with a hopscotching, genre-fluid Midlands sound drawing on Steel
Pulse, 2-Tone and Stereo MC’s, then twisting them into new forms.
A self-confessed “white middle-class, middle England boy that listened to a lot of hip-hop”, Matravers comes over like a
homeboy Alan Bennett, with a keen eye for the finer lyrical details. “I’m constantly observing and writing on my iPhone,” he confesses down the line from a plastic recycling plant in Marrakesh, where the band are shooting the video for Earth, a shuffling space blues about planetary self-destruction.
On record, the band’s head-nodding tracks are mostly sample-based; on-stage they’re more electric, dubby and jazzy, showcasing the varied tastes of Matravers, Birtles, guitarist Lewis Berry, bassist Sam Hewitt and drummer Olly Cassidy. “We want to make sure the live show is a continuation from the record, not a replica. It’s all about passion, energy, intimacy and connection. Every show’s different – it depends how much sleep we’ve had the night before.”
While flattered by Golding’s endorsement, Matravers is keen to stress that Easy Life, a band yet to write their first album and even ambivalent about the idea of one, are still in their infancy. “We started this purely as a form of escapism and suddenly people started engaging with it,” he says. “There’s so much we want to do before we pat ourselves on the back.”
Andy Cowan