A BAND which has used the word “British” in its name for the past two decades has removed it citing a rise in “isolationist, antagonistic nationalism” that it does not wish to be associated with.

Sea Power, who had been known as British Sea Power since the band was founded in 2000, made the announcement on their website on Monday.

Sharing their statement on Twitter, the band wrote simply: “Goodbye British Sea Power. Hello Sea Power.”

Expanding on the reasons for the name change on their website, the band said the old name had “come to feel constricting, like an ancient legacy we were carrying with us”.

They went on: “When we came up with the name British Sea Power there were at least two different lines of thought behind it. There was, literally, sea power – the elementary power of the oceans. 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.

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“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…

“Now, 20 years later, we’re recasting the name. 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.”

They go on to say that they always want to be an “internationalist band” and cite one of their songs, Waving Flags, as “an anthem to pan-European idealism”.

The band says it made the change as the word British left their old name open to misapprehension, but also add that they “very much hope” no-one will be offended by the change.

They go on: “We’d like to make it clear that removing the word 'British' does NOT indicate any aversion to the British Isles whatsoever. We all feel immensely fortunate to have grown up in these islands. Several of 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.

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“We feel the name change comes in part from the band’s audience – who at a good show will shout out, ‘Sea Power! Sea Power!’ 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 band’s old website, BritishSeaPower.co.uk, now redirects to the newly named site seapowerband.com.

The band has also deleted their old Twitter account, @BSPOfficial, and replaced it with @SeaPowerBand.

The National:

Sea Power was founded by two brothers from Cumbria, Scott Wilkinson, known as Yan, and Neil Hamilton Wilkinson, known as Hamilton (shown above).

Sea Power’s first album, The Decline of British Sea Power, was released in 2003 to critical acclaim. The song Carrion from that album became their first UK top 40 hit.

They have since released six further albums and four “soundtrack” albums for movies and video games.

A new album to be released in 2022 was announced at the same time as the name change. Titled “Everything Was Forever”, it will be made available on February 11 of next year.