Punk duo Slaves have announced they will be making new music but under a new name (Picture: Redferns)
British band Slaves have returned to the music scene with a new name and apology to anyone their old name may have ‘offended.’
The punk rock duo, made up of Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman, last released music in 2019.
Now the pair have confirmed they will be returning to the studio – this time under the new name Soft Play – as they set out the reasons for their name change.
In a statement released this week, the band formerly known as Slaves said the name ‘doesn’t represent who we are as people or what our music stands for any longer.’
‘When we called our band Slaves, it was intended solely as a reference to the grind of day to day life,’ they explained.
‘As younger men, we responded to criticism of the name from a place of fear and defensiveness.
Laurie and Isaac released a statement this week saying they would now be known as Soft Play (Picture: Redferns)
‘Feeling backed into a corner, our own pride caused us to fight for a name we weren’t even sure we wanted anymore. It felt at times as if our band name had defined us and we were scared of what might happen if we changed it.’
However, they went on to say that they now ‘recognise’ that whatever their intentions, ‘it doesn’t change the fact that the name Slaves is an issue.’
‘In this day and age we believe it is very important that people change and make improvements no matter how far down the line they are.
‘The name doesn’t represent who we are as people or what our music stands for any longer,’ they said.
Finishing the statement by ‘sincerely’ apologising to ‘anyone we’ve offended,’ they said their music is for ‘anyone and everyone.’
They pleaded with their fans to accept their decision and ‘not continue the argument between yourselves.’
Soft Play’s return to the music scene comes after the death of Vincent’s partner Emma Jane Mulholland from cancer, with whom he has two children.
She was 32.
The duo pleaded with fans not to keep arguing about the subject and to respect their decision (Picture: Getty Images)
Appearing to address the tragedy, they said that they have not commented on the band as ‘life changing events have left us on hiatus, just trying to get through each day.
‘There were times over the last few years when we never thought we would ever step foot on a stage together again.
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‘However we feel that the time has now come to pick up where we left off.’
They added that they were ‘very happy’ to be back together again and are ‘excited for what the future holds.’
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‘The name doesn’t represent who we are as people or what our music stands for any longer.’
