Exhausting Life (FKA Simple Life) face an unsure future on new single ‘Othello’

Exhausting Life are again with ‘Othello’, the group’s first new single since final 12 months’s ‘Tears’ – take heed to the observe right here.

• READ MORE: Simple Life reside in London: an emotional farewell amid authorized drama

‘Othello’, BBC Radio 1’s Hottest File tonight (April 8), was written and recorded by frontman Murray Matravers in Japan after a interval of change for the band previously generally known as Simple Life.

Matravers booked a spontaneous journey to the East Asian nation final 12 months after feeling dissatisfied with the music he was making and hung out producing new materials there earlier than returning to Leicester to reconnect together with his bandmates in December.

The ensuing ‘Othello’ is a part-cinematic, part-mellow hip-hop-infused observe produced and co-composed by producer and songwriter Taka Perry, who Matravers met whereas travelling.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC_Tp2u7l40[/embed]

Discussing the observe, Matravers described it as “a pun on the board recreation,” and mentioned that it “additionally attracts from the play’s themes of belief, id, and the damaging forces of unchecked feelings like jealousy.”

He added, “Relationships – whether or not private, romantic, or skilled – are not often easy, and after making tough choices you typically cross this threshold of no return. ‘Othello’ captures that second of uncertainty, the place somebody leaves your life, and there’s a profound vacancy that takes over as you wallow within the unknown.”

It’s their first new music in nearly a 12 months, after the band shared ‘Tears’, their first observe underneath the brand new moniker, in June – the identical day they introduced their title change. Upon their return as Exhausting Life, Matravers instructed NME: “I actually don’t need individuals to learn an excessive amount of into the title. I used to be nervous, as a result of as a white, middle-class man, I haven’t precisely had a tough life. It must be appreciated in context.

He shared that he and his bandmates all selected the brand new title immediately, including: “We have been laughing about it and I don’t assume any of us have been taking it that severely, however as time progressed we went via one million of different choices and we all the time got here again to Exhausting Life as a result of we thought it was humorous. Everybody appeared to resonate with that, and it was probably the most stereotypical Simple Life factor to do.”

He additionally mentioned that the band weren’t planning on making any wholesale adjustments to their sound or picture to go alongside the title change. “I realised that I like what I do and didn’t wish to change,” he defined. “The title change was clearly compelled upon us for authorized causes, however aside from that, that’s it.”

The earlier 12 months, they performed their remaining present underneath their outdated title after conceding defeat in a authorized battle over their title in opposition to easyGroup – the conglomerate that owns airline easyJet. They made the choice to give up their band title, avoiding a pricey authorized battle within the course of, whereas attorneys for easyGroup later known as ‘Tears’ “disparaging and defamatory” on the time of its launch.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC7hBDGpzCk[/embed]

Additionally of their interview, Matravers mentioned that the band have been “determined to play exhibits once more” and described the summer time’s festivals as giving them “mad FOMO”. This summer time, nonetheless, they’re set to play a collection of pageant dates, and will likely be showing on the likes of Y Not, Truck, and Dwell At Leeds.

NME gave their most up-to-date UK present, the October 2023 date which marked their farewell underneath their outdated title, a four-star assessment. Will Richards wrote: “Anger, pleasure, frustration: it’s all right here at a surprisingly distinctive remaining present for a band who have been heading to the highest … As proven by the crowds at KOKO and in Leicester, and the unanimous help seen on-line, one thing as frivolous as a reputation change can’t halt the ascent of a band this charismatic and resilient for lengthy.”