hard life have announced their new album ‘onion’ for July

hard life have announced their new album ‘onion’, set for release on 18th July via Island EMI.

The band recently shared first single ‘othello’, which premiered as BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record, alongside a surreal album trailer. The record follows their 2022 album ‘MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE…’, which peaked at Number 2 in the UK charts.

‘onion’ emerged following Murray Matravers‘ spontaneous trip to Japan after a series of personal and professional changes. During his stay in Tokyo, Matravers met a stranger named Taka and began creating music in a local studio called onion in Shirokane.

The album includes the previously released 2024 single ‘Tears’, which documents the group’s legal challenges, while new single ‘othello’ explores themes of accepting chaos. “There is no black or white,” Matravers explains of the track’s meaning.

Matravers returned to Leicester in December 2024, reuniting with the Hard Life live band ahead of their upcoming festival appearances.