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British Sea Power change name to avoid any confusion with nationalism

By | Published on Tuesday 10 August 2021

British Sea Power are now simply Sea Power. Which means that sentence should technically have read “Sea Power are no longer called British Sea Power”. The band have changed their name alongside the announcement of a new album, explaining that they have become concerned that – when seen in isolation – their former name could be “misapprehended” as being somehow linked to the most recent rise in nationalistic politics, in the UK and elsewhere.

Explaining the original reasons for choosing British Sea Power as their name, the band write in a post on their website that there were two motivations behind the moniker.

“There was, literally, sea power – the elementary power of the oceans”, they say. “Alongside this was the historical idea of ‘British sea power’ – Britannia ruling the waves; the naval power that once allowed Britain to dominate the world. When we came up with the original band name, Britain no longer ruled the seas. The band name was intended with a kind of wry humour. The idea of British sea power in the historical sense was an obsolete thing. It was now just the name of a rock band”.

However, they go on, “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. It’s become apparent that it’s possible to misapprehend the name British Sea Power, particularly if someone isn’t familiar with the band or their recordings”.

“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. We very much hope the band’s audience won’t be affronted by this adjustment to the name”.

“We’d like to make it clear that removing the word ‘British’ does NOT indicate any aversion to the British Isles whatsoever”, they then clarify. “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. We all still live within the British Isles, but we are now just Sea Power”.

The band’s first album as Sea Power will be ‘Everything Was Forever’, which is set for release on 11 Feb 2022, and which will include the single ‘Two Fingers’.



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