British Sea Power have changed their name to Sea Power to remove themselves from any nationalistic connotations.
The rock band said that while they “deeply love the British Isles”, they were renaming themselves to avoid any misinterpretations of jingoism.
Sea Power described the change as a “modest gesture of separation from the wave of crass nationalism that has traversed our world recently”.
In a statement on their website, the band explained: “After much reflection and soul-searching, the band formerly known as British Sea Power have modified their name to simply Sea Power... The name British Sea Power had come to feel constricting, like an ancient legacy we were carrying with us.
“In recent times there’s been a rise in a certain kind of nationalism in this world – an isolationist, antagonistic nationalism that we don’t want to run any risk of being confused with... We’ve always been internationalist in our mindset, something made clear in songs like Waving Flags, an anthem to pan-European idealism. We always wanted to be an internationalist band but maybe having a specific nation state in our name wasn’t the cleverest way to demonstrate that.”
They continued: “We all feel immensely fortunate to have grown up in these islands. Several or our songs are filled with love and awe for this place. We do love these lands... Maybe this name change has been there for years, shouted in our ears. It’s just taken us this long to realise – to hear what was there in front of us…”
The group, which consists of Yan Wilkinson, Hamilton Wilkinson, Martin Noble, Matthew Wood, Phil Sumner and Abi Fryalso, have just released their new single “Two Fingers”.
It’s the first track to be taken from their new album Everything Was Forever, which will be released in February 2022 and is their first album in four years.
Speaking about “Two Fingers”, Yan said: “In the song it’s a toast to everyone, remembering those in our lives and those sadly no longer here and to making the world a better place.
“The song is ‘F*** me, f*** you, f*** everything.’ But it’s also ‘Love me, love you, love everything’ – exultation in the darkness. If you say ‘f*** you’ in the right way, it really can be cathartic, a new start.”
Performing together since 2000, Sea Power have released seven studio albums over the years.
