Hardlife share new single, ‘y3llow bike’

twenty4sevenlifest
Jul 18
3 min read

New album - onion - released July 18th on Island EMI

UK Headline tour on sale now

“Something as frivolous as a name change can’t halt the ascent of a band this charismatic and resilient” - NME ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Raucous, fun and full of lyrical sleights of hand - The Times ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Indefinable…imagine what would happen if Alex Turner, Kaytranada and Loyle Carner collaborated, and you’ll get something fairly close” - GQ

"A more refined, authentic musical project...sounds hungrier than ever" - Wonderland

Stream/Watch ‘y3llow bike’: https://HardLife.lnk.to/y3llowbike

Stream/Watch ‘OGRE’: https://hardlife.lnk.to/OGRE

Stream/Watch ‘othello’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC_Tp2u7l40

Hard life today unveil new single and video ‘y3llow bike’, which is available now on Island EMI. It’s the latest layer of new album onion, which will be released on July 18th and has been teased by brooding first single ‘othello’, plus the memorable, Shrek-inspired album track ‘OGRE’. Having made their long-awaited live return at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend - after two years of being unable to play - hard life’s UK headline tour is on sale now for October, including a return to London’s O2 Academy Brixton.

Charismatic but conflicted, ‘y3llow bike’ details the cycles of a crush: as Murray puts it, “the classic story of falling for a friend. There's that constant tug-of-war between wanting to protect the friendship and dealing with the fragile ego that fears rejection.” The track’s loose flow and surreal, pitched-up vocals - which hard life first experimented with on ‘BEESWAX’ - is partnered with another standout video filmed during Murray’s time in Japan, where onion first grew roots.

The breakthrough British act, back from the brink, hard life’s new album is as much a welcome return as it is a legally-enforced debut. Yet from 2017’s instant-classic ‘Pockets’ onwards, hard life’s catalogue has spoken volumes beyond mere trademark. Along the way Murray has established himself as one of the most astute songwriters in the UK, landing 2 number 2-charting albums, collaborating with the likes of Arlo Parks, Kevin Abstract and FINNEAS, plus star-making turns ranging from Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage to Alexandra Palace. Coming out of the not-inconsiderable shadow of a global pandemic, hard life were sucked into a legal battle and level of public scrutiny that won the nation’s hearts, but put their livelihoods completely on the line.

Check out 24Seven Lifestyle's exclusive interview with Murray himself.

A surprise return - not least of all to Murray himself - onion straddles pop accessibility with genre-disruptive, no-fucks-left energy. This totem of personal and creative growth emerged, of all things, after a long-haul flight. Disillusioned with his work and having effectively quit music, Murray booked a spontaneous trip to Japan, wishing to fully immerse himself in the fashion, food and local culture that had fascinated him since touring four years ago. He was also running away from an unbroken streak of breakups (romantically, within the hard life live band, and from the life once lived). Seeking solace in Tokyo, Murray met another wandering stranger, Taka, and started making music again spontaneously in Shirokane’s local studio, named onion.

What emerged within a matter of weeks was a hard life comeback: songs hardened by experience, but also compassionate, confident, and care-free. First single ‘othello’, for instance, is about making peace with chaos unfolding, when there is no “black or white”, tragedy or comedy to rage against. ‘OGRE’, meanwhile, blends a rap-ballad with the oversharing of a voicenote, its pathos partnered with a raw but refined visual aesthetic in which Murray physically inhabits the monster. And whilst tracks like ‘y3llow bike’ sit happily alongside hard life anthems like ‘nightmares’, the project marks a notable shift in perspective, and curiosity: a period of loss, turned into an unexpected opportunity for growth.

Having spent his young career matching unsteady circumstances with unvarnished positivity, amidst breakups and breakthroughs - and for legal reasons, all things easy and hard - life seemingly has a way of disrupting Murray Matravers’ best laid plans. It’s a messy chapter that closes, nonetheless, on a homecoming: Murray returned to Leicester in December 2024, reconnecting with the wider hard life live band ahead of their welcome return this summer. No stranger to falling off it, 2025 sees hard life get back on the ‘y3llow bike’ and move forwards.