Arduous Life are again with ‘Othello’, the group’s first new single since final 12 months’s ‘Tears’ – take heed to the monitor right here.
‘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 frolicked producing new materials there earlier than returning to Leicester to reconnect along with his bandmates in December.
The ensuing ‘Othello’ is a part-cinematic, part-mellow hip-hop-infused monitor produced and co-composed by producer and songwriter Taka Perry, who Matravers met whereas travelling.
Discussing the monitor, Matravers described it as “a pun on the board recreation,” and mentioned that it “additionally attracts from the play’s themes of belief, identification, and the damaging forces of unchecked feelings like jealousy.”
He added, “Relationships – whether or not private, romantic, or skilled – are hardly ever simple, and after making troublesome choices you generally 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 monitor beneath the brand new moniker, in June – the identical day they introduced their identify change. Upon their return as Arduous Life, Matravers instructed NME: “I actually don’t need folks to learn an excessive amount of into the identify. 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 identify immediately, including: “We had been laughing about it and I don’t suppose any of us had been taking it that critically, however as time progressed we went via one million of different choices and we at all times got here again to Arduous 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 modifications to their sound or picture to go alongside the identify change. “I realised that I like what I do and didn’t wish to change,” he defined. “The identify change was clearly pressured upon us for authorized causes, however apart from that, that’s it.”
The earlier 12 months, they performed their ultimate present beneath their previous identify after conceding defeat in a authorized battle over their identify towards easyGroup – the conglomerate that owns airline easyJet. They made the choice to give up their band identify, avoiding a expensive authorized battle within the course of, whereas attorneys for easyGroup later known as ‘Tears’ “disparaging and defamatory” on the time of its launch.
Additionally of their interview, Matravers mentioned that the band had been “determined to play reveals once more” and described the summer time’s festivals as giving them “mad FOMO”. This summer time, nevertheless, they’re set to play a collection of pageant dates, and will likely be showing on the likes of Y Not, Truck, and Reside At Leeds.
NME gave their most up-to-date UK present, the October 2023 date which marked their farewell beneath their previous identify, a four-star overview. Will Richards wrote: “Anger, pleasure, frustration: it’s all right here at a surprisingly distinctive ultimate present for a band who had been heading to the highest … As proven by the crowds at KOKO and in Leicester, and the unanimous assist 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.”
