Band Sea Power respond to criticism of dropping British from their name

Sea Power have dropped the word British from their name (Picture: Getty)

Sea Power have been criticised for dropping the word British from their name.

The band, previously known as British Sea Power, made the announcement last week and said they came to the decision as they didn’t want to appear overly patriotic.

However, some fans criticised the group on social media prompting the group – made up of Scott Wilkinson, known as Yan, Neil Wilkinson, known as Hamilton, Martin Noble and Matthew Wood – to speak out.

They wrote for the Guardian: ‘We haven’t undertaken this name-change lightly. It’s something we’ve been thinking about for years.’

‘If we were called British Motorcycle Club we wouldn’t be changing our name,’they added. ‘It was the combination of “British” and “Power” that no longer worked for us. 

‘We imagined a youngster at a European festival in the 21st century looking at the programme and seeing a band name including the word “Hungarian” or “Russian” alongside “Power”.’

Sea Power said they changed their name to avoid being confused with ‘antagonistic nationalism’ (Picture: FilmMagic)

They said they didn’t want the minds of their audience to be taken in the direction of the ‘adversarial nationalism that has recently taken hold around the world’.

They insisted that they were not changing in any other way and thanked their fans for their support so far.

They also praised the UK, saying they loved the ‘physical beauty’ of the British Isles, and said they were proud of the country’s diversity and culture.

More: British musicians

Along with the name change, Sea Power also announced the release of their new single Two Single.

They are set to release an album, Everything Was Forever, in February next year.

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