A band formed in Kent have announced they are returning from a hiatus with a new name.

The two-piece punk band, previously known as Slaves, were formed in 2012, and consists of Isaac Holman, who is lead vocals and the drummer, and Laurie Vincent, who plays guitar and bass.

Isaac is a former Hugh Christie School pupil from Tunbridge Wells, and Laurie Vincent is a former Oakwood Park Grammar pupil from Maidstone.

The duo ended up cancelling their UK tour at the end of 2019 after Laurie's partner passed away from cancer.

As well as this, Isaac was struggling with mental health issues, and wrote in an Instagram post that he was so unwell that he couldn't be without his parents.

He has since advocated for mental health and is very vocal about his struggles.

In a post on their Instagram page today they revealed they would now be known as Soft Play, adding: "Until now, we've not been able to comment on what's going on with 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 on foot on a stage together again.

"However we feel that the time has now come to pick up where we left off. Before we do that though, we want to address something important."

The post continued: "When we called our band Slaves, it was intended solely as a reference to the grind of day-to-day life.

"As younger men, we responded to criticism of the name from a place of fear and defensiveness.

"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, we now recognise that our original intent doesn't change the fact that the name Slaves is an issue."

The band had previously received criticism for its name, and defended it in the past.

They went on to write: "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. We want to sincerely apologise to anyone we've offended.

"We are aware that people have differing opinions on the name, we hope you can accept and respect our decision and not continue the argument between yourselves.

"When it comes down to it, the music and the community surrounding our band are what matter the most and we don't want anything to stand in the way of that community being as inclusive as possible. Our music is for anyone and everyone.

"With that being said, we are very happy to be back together again and are excited for what the future holds. Our new name is 'SOFT PLAY'."

The two-piece punk outfit Slaves were signed to Virgin EMI in March 2014 and their debut album Are You Satisfied? reached number eight in its first week on the UK Albums Chart.

It went silver in the UK and was nominated for the 2015 Mercury Music Prize.