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It’s been anything but an Easy Life for the Leicester five-piece in recent months. Second album ‘Maybe In Another Life’ was delayed by seven weeks last summer while triumphant headline tours in Europe and North America pencilled in for later this year were cancelled due to how expensive everything is right now.
It’s a very modern run of unfortunate circumstances, but Easy Life have always provided an optimistic soundtrack to modern struggles. Tonight (Feb 25), as they headline London’s Alexandra Palace, the band do everything in their power to create an escapist house party that’s heavy on posi-vibes. Taking to the stage wearing matching leather jackets, Easy Life lean into their reputation as an “unlikely boyband” while the hazy funk of ‘Growing Pains’ and the tropical pop of ‘Daydreaming’ provides a pristine opening.
That polish doesn’t last for long though. ‘Basement’ offers a touch of industrial scuzz while ‘Sangria’ offers the first of many explosive singalongs. Halfway through ‘OTT’, vocalist Murray Matravers decides he wants a fan to join them onstage. “Quick, Ally Pally. Does anyone play the guitar,” he asks. Someone from the front row is then hurried onstage just in time for the distorted outro. It’s a bit messy but that’s when Easy Life are at their best.
Later, Matravers channels his inner Oli Sykes when he demands the audience open the pit up for ‘Peanut Butter’ while during rowdy festival anthem ‘Nightmares’, he crowdsurfs to the very back of the venue before having to awkwardly make the long walk back to the stage.
There’s a touch of The 1975’s theatrics to Easy Life, from the show’s instrumental introduction to the theatrics that introduce special guest Gus Dapperton for a glorious run through of ‘Antifreeze’, but the band have much more in common with the likes of Glass Animals. Easy Life’s emotional indie is given a euphoric twist live and the entire show feels more like a never-ending celebration than a series of self-reflections.
There were still moments of heartfelt sincerity, though. Matravers calls the show “the greatest achievement of all” for the band while multi-instrumentalist Sam Hewitt takes to the mic for a powerful speech about depression and suicide. “Please, talk to your friends. Let people know how you feel. You shouldn’t ever feel like nobody cares, because we all care,” he encourages before the piano-led gut-punch of ‘Fortune Cookie’ and the woozy ‘Dear Miss Holloway’ round out the night.
Tonight’s show at London’s Alexandra Palace sees one of Britain’s Best New Bands crank up the ambition at a time where their lush anthems of perseverance couldn’t be more needed. Everything might feel a little uncertain right now and Easy Life have never pretended to have the answers but during their biggest ever headline show, there was nothing but joy. The sooner they can share that with the rest of the world, the better.
Easy Life played:
‘Maybe In Another Life’
‘Growing Pains’
‘Daydreams’
‘Sangria’
‘Basement’
‘Dead Celebrities’
‘OTT’
‘Slow Motion’
‘Sunday’
‘Buggin’
‘Frank’
‘Silver Linings’
‘Ojpl’
‘Calling In Sick’
‘Skeletons’
‘Ocean View’
‘Peanut Butter’
‘Trust Exercises’
‘Antifreeze’ with Gus Dapperton
‘Nightmares’
‘Beeswax’
‘Pockets’
‘Fortune Cookie’
‘Dear Miss Holloway’
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Slayyyter played her take on Turnstile’s ‘Birds’ onstage for the first time in Atlanta. You can watch footage of the performance below.
Slayyyter is currently touring with her ‘Wor$t Girl In The World’ show. She added the cover to her set at The Eastern on Monday night (September 21).
She sang ‘Birds: Slayyyter Version’ near the end of the main set, following ‘Brittany Murphy’. She then came back for an encore featuring ‘Brand New Chanel$’ and ‘Beat Up Chanel$’.
It was her first live performance of the song. She originally recorded it for Turnstile’s ‘Never Enough: Versions’, a collection of reworked tracks released on August 28.
The 22 track release brings together new interpretations of songs from Turnstile’s fourth album. Contributors include Elton John, Hayley Williams, Blood Orange, A. G. Cook, Faye Webster, Four Tet, Oklou, Floating Points, Nourished By Time, Alex G, Julien Baker and Mustafa.
Panda Bear recorded a new take on ‘Magic Man’, while Dying Fetus gave ‘Birds’ another interpretation rooted in death metal.
See Slayyyter perform the track live and listen to her studio recording here:
Slayyyter trades the original song’s hardcore intensity for a bigger electronic sound that feels at home alongside her latest album, ‘Wor$t Girl In America’.
Turnstile first released ‘Birds’ on their 2025 album ‘Never Enough’. The song won Best Metal Performance at the 2026 Grammy Awards, where the album also won Best Rock Album.
In its five star review of ‘Never Enough’, NME pointed to ‘Birds’ and ‘Sole’ as reminders of Turnstile’s hardcore beginnings. It also praised the album for “furthering their unique, pop-facing take on hardcore”.
Slayyyter will join Turnstile on another stage next month. She and Die Spitz are set to support the band at the University of Kansas in Lawrence on October 6 for the ‘Never Enough Tour Pt. 2’.
It has been a big year for Slayyyter. Her third album, ‘Wor$t Girl In America’, came out in March, and NME’s review highlighted its mix of “brash, sleazy pop” and late 2000s indie sleaze sounds.
Last month, she performed Hole’s ‘Violet’ for triple J’s Like A Version. Courtney Love called the cover “a delight” and encouraged Slayyyter to “keep wiping the floors with us”.
A few weeks later, Slayyyter took ‘Wor$t Girl In America’ to Reading Festival. NME’s live review declared that there was “undoubtedly a star before us on stage” and praised her “rasped, rocked-up delivery” and growing confidence as a performer.
