Album of the Week: Junk Food EP — Easy Life
Leicester-based alternative band Easy Life feel like the inheritors of the legacy left by acts like Mac Miller. Their latest EP questions, solidifies, and negates this claim — simultaneously. Edward Smith is here to tell us why.
This is the latest mixtape, EP, short album, whatever you want to call it, from the Leicester-based 5-piece Easy Life. Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, ‘Fast Food’ has catapulted Easy Life to number 7 in the UK album charts; and, having only released mixtapes Spaceships and Creature Habits in 2019 and 2018 respectively, that’s quite impressive. There’s very little to go off of this band so far, if I’m honest: watching them in interviews they come off as a bit grating to me. In their defence, I feel like their NME interview was just an awkward set up with them having to over-react to still images of dogs and Baby Bells. They’re all quite quirky, mentioning how they have to surround themselves with plants while in the studio, one has lived on a farm for most of his life, another can get his legs over his head. They just come off as quite a laid back group of guys overall, trying to have a laugh, which you can’t really have a problem with.
On a side note — I love the album cover. It’s a perfect mix of 70s aesthete and muted colours, which is introduction enough for the record. It feels like something that you would find crate-digging at an indie record store. The image of the band is fun, a group of mates having a laugh; it’s completely unpretentious, and provides continuity with the previous mixtapes, bringing these spacey, retro sounds up to date into the 2020s.
Easy Life seem to be the next in a long line of acts who have seemingly found a home in the crossroads between Funk, RnB and Pop. The Mac Miller and Anderson .Paak influences bleed through this project. This is both a blessing and a curse. Sure, they have a great sound and it’s easy to recommend them based on the fact you know and like similar acts, but they don’t do too much new with this, rather than just sanding down the edgier influences you may get on a, say, Frank Ocean record. It feels rather anonymous like it could have been a repurposed Anderson .Paak EP, or maybe a Mac Demarco album if he was slightly less stoned.
Easy Life are at their best when they have energy. ‘Nice Guys’ is the pinnacle of this. The bassline slaps incredibly hard. It bounces along in the background, but the beat that it is paired with just propels the song forwards. The slow layering up of horns and synths really nails the grand retro vibe that makes it an absolute joy to listen to. This funk-infused dancefloor filler is an absolutely fantastic introduction to the band.
‘Sangria’ features newcomer Arlo Parks who pairs well with Matravers’ singing. Her slow, lamenting soulful voice is a nice contrast to Matravers’ rap-singing, which all works incredibly well against the chilled-out beat behind them. The differences between them helps keep the song fresh the entire way through. ‘LS6’ is a decent track. It’s Easy Life doing what they do best: it’s not particularly ear-grabbing, but the sweet piano accompaniments and occasional violin flourishes make for easy listening. The chorus is pretty enjoyable, though Matravers vocal riffs over the phrase ‘I’m serous now’, are not particularly memorable. The sparse drumming helps to create a sense of space that is incredibly relaxing and intoxicating.
Lead singer Murray Matravers is a decent frontman for the band when he’s not channelling a Xanned-out Alex Turner. The lyrics at points do come off as a bit insipid at times, especially on the big single ‘Sangria’. They focus more on laying out a mood instead of trying to say anything particularly interesting. Not every project has to be Edgar Allen Poe, but it feels like the lyrics were thrown together somewhat lazily, which — given the EP’s stoner-energy — isn’t that much of a surprise. ‘Dead Celebrities’ reels off clichés about being rich and famous, worrying about scandals and dousing themselves with champagne and pills. ‘Spiders’ is vague wallowing over being away from someone for a long time. The lack of detail makes it hard to latch on to anything other than a vague sleepy, drunk feeling. However, this is the only record where you’ll hear a choir soulfully sing ‘I’m a wasteman’ which I’m pretty sure makes all these points a net positive now.
The production is beautiful, it makes the record very pleasant listening. Synthesisers ebb and flow, sometimes just humming along in the background. Not demanding your attention but just filling in the edges of this musical landscape. You could describe some of it as lo-fi but it’s not a full commitment to the style, just a grab-bag of many different influences. Watered down is a good word for it, which is a shame. I really enjoy all of these songs, but there’s just something that is really frustrating to me. There’s nothing particularly out there, that really grabs your attention. You could hear a few tracks on the radio or Spotify or wherever you discover music and think ‘yeah, this is actually pretty good’, maybe save some of it to come back to later, but it just slips out of your mind. Why would I sink time into listening to this when there are dozens other albums which scratch the same itch far better? Try ‘Oxnard’, ‘Blond’, ‘Salad Days’, ‘Swimming’ and this album is just drowned in a sea of context showing how unadventurous it really is.
All things considered, it’s hard not to be a bit indifferent towards this record. It’s a bit of a moot point to say that this EP feels a bit empty when it is literally titled Junk Food, but there is a real flare in tracks such as ‘Nice Guys’ and ‘Earth’ that just shows that they could have had something far better on their hands. The record just ends up feeling like Junk Food, it’s fun for the time it takes you to consume it — but leaves you feeling slightly hollow afterwards.
This isn’t a nail in the coffin, they are all clearly very talented people who just haven’t hit their stride yet. This feels like a necessary point in their development as a band at a very early stage in their career. I look forward to the next project. What they aimed for on this record, they definitely achieve with flying colours. I just wish that they reached a little higher.
Score: 6/10.
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