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| THE MISERABLE RICH (NEW ALBUM LAUNCH SHOW) |
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| We are sorry but THE MISERABLE RICH is not due to perform for a while. |
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"Of Flight And Fury" is released on Humble Soul on 31st May 2010
The single, Somerhill, is available now as a special limited edition vinyl or as a download from the usual online stores...
With their layers of delicate, elegant strings and rich vocals you might expect The Miserable Rich to be winking at the sommelier as they win another debate about philosophy to a round of applause. But despite travelling around Europe – playing their own gigs and supporting the likes of Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – plus staying at home self-producing lush albums in their bedrooms, being a favourite guest of Marc Riley and grabbing iTunes Song Of The Week and 6Music album of the day, they seem to have become mishap magnets - there have been traffic accidents and breakdowns, missed planes and deadlines, though they will be the first to admit that some of this might be self-inflicted, like trying to discuss business agreements while guzzling absinthe backstage at a German festival.
But any bad luck seems short lived. Passports that have been lost between passport control and the aeroplane turn up. Wallets with all the band’s cashflow get found hours later, exactly where they were dropped in the middle of a busy venue. And no one takes the whole tour cash when they leave it on a Berlin hostel’s pool table for several hours.
“There’s generally too much drinking,” admits singer James de Malplaquet. “Especially in Europe when the drinks are always free.”
But ‘life happening’ is not necessarily a bad thing for a band who work so much honesty into their songs. Not for The Miserable Rich are lyrics comparing girls to flowers. No, songs like ‘For A Day’ struggle with the internal debate of whether to pack yourself off home from a decaying, debauched party or take another pill. Drugs also pop up in the post-cocaine regrets of ‘Chestnut Sunday’; while ‘Hungover’, at least on one level, speaks for itself. These are songs that have been lived.
Yes, second album ‘Of Flight And Fury’ is beyond beautiful but the prettiness hides some murky elements, times The Miserable Rich have certainly lived though.
“If there are any diamonds in the band they’re certainly rough,” smiles James, with the charm that you just know gets him out of trouble.
Not all of the album is about getting hammered though. Named after a Brighton school, ‘Somerhill’ tells of the seduction of a yummy mummy which is not quite as quiet and private as it could be. ‘Let Me Fade’ – the closest to a traditional break-up song – adds barbershop harmonies to lines that explain how the former object of James’ affection no longer has orgasms. It’s not the sort of story cellos and violins usually provide a score for.
“Acoustic music tends to be a lot about love affairs and unrequited love,” explains James. “We try to avoid that because we feel that there’s so much more to write about. I think we’re like that musically too. We never want to make things too obvious. But it still has to be approachable – it needs to be very human, we don’t want it to be too intellectual.”
Led by violin and cello, with acoustic guitar and double-bass holding down the rhythm, it would be easy for these Brightonians to come across as chin-stroking clever-clogs. Instead, a variety of influences come together to form a swirling, warm, inviting sound that’s rich with feeling. The strings have an indie element from Mike along with a classical influence from Will, while Jim brings classic rock from his Clearlake days. Meanwhile Rhys’s jazz props up the bottom end and James’ vocals have the rawness of his soul upbringing. But this isn’t maths and that equation comes out with something unique. It’s as rooted in late 60s and early 70s widescreen psychedelia musically as it is in the modern world lyrically. If one day someone digs up a lost Love acoustic album they’ll say, “Oh, it sounds like The Miserable Rich.”
“We all know each other really well and we all have a good old time together. We wanted to reflect that,” says James.
Ah, good times, that’s what it’s about. Like the in-band competition they had to see how many words they could get out of Mark Lanegan. Jim won, prising out, “Alright bro”.
There’s no moping around for The Miserable Rich, unless they’re hungover.
James Kendall
GET A TASTER
www.themiserablerich.co.uk
www.myspace.com/themiserablerich
www.myspace.com/willkommencollective
www.last.fm/music/The+Miserable+Rich
FREE DOWNLOAD (Right click/save target as)
www.hazelwood.de/miserablerich/sound/TheKnife.mp3
MORE ON THE MISERABLE RICH
Praise for Twelve Ways To Count:
“heartbreakingly beautiful” 8/10 NME
“Breathtaking... Easily the best record of 2008” 10/10 Americana UK
“gentle brilliance” Bearded
" ...their lush orchestro-folk is so heartbreakingly beautiful, it reduces anyone who hears it to a weeping mess." 8/10 - NME
"Recorded in the front room of singer James De Malplaquet’s Brighton home, The Miserable Rich’s striking, fully fledged debut immediately sets them apart. Five in number, they play what can perhaps be best described as acoustic chamber pop, everything coming decorously draped with the rather mournful accompaniment of cello and violin. Beyond that, though, it’s De Malplaquet’s warm, hazy voice coupled with the songs’ ruminative aspect that impress most, from tales of drunks and bonnie barmaids to such beautifully tender moments as Boat Song and The Knife Thrower’s Hand. A handsome, original start." Q
"Breathtaking... Easily the best record of 2008" Americana UK
"There is no other band around at the moment who creates music like this, and yet Twelve Ways To Count shows how simple and effective it is. With delicate singing, plucking strings and floating violins, any of these twelve tracks can lift you up and carry you along a cloud into a tranquil equilibrium... they have created a piece of art that is gentle brilliance which needs to be introduced into your life." Bearded
"warm acoustic loveliness" Rocksound
" A beautiful, intelligent and smart album, Twelve Ways To Count shows The Miserable Rich are a rare find." 4.5/5 - Subba-cultcha.com
"...a cracking album full of tender, dark, warm, thoughtful and euphoric songs that'll keep you humming along all day long" Piccadilly Records - Record of the Week
"If you've stumbled across their inspired reworking of Hot Chip's 'Over and Over' on your music-buying travels, you'll know that these guys are something special. If not, fear not, this is the perfect place to start. The band describe themselves as a "bar-room chamber quintet", a fair description in truth, but as with most things this beautiful, this heart-warming and this special, you really need to ditch the soundbites, swerve the superlatives and check them out for yourselves. Amazing!"
***** "Leftfield Single of the month" DJ MAG
"It's amazing how a band so fresh can have so much quality......one of the best sessions we've ever had" Marc Riley, BBC 6Music
"Destined to be one of the singles of the year"
Gideon Coe, BBC 6Music
"One of the few bands to unite the entire office, which is a rarity enough to earn them a place, but more so because they write the kind of tunes capable of uniting nations." Top 20 bands of 2007, Source magazine
The Miserable Rich, whose name derives from an experience they had playing at the wedding of two ultra-rich aristocrats in Rome, grew from a 'bedroom electro-songwriterproject'. Cellist/pianist William Calderbank and singer/percussionist James de Malplaquet formed their string quintet intending to 'produce quirky acoustic modern music' - and they do just that. But not just that. The Miserable Rich's bar-room chamber music, styled with fierce but beautiful vocals backed by serene, acutely arranged strings, has been described as 'pop music that could soundtrack a nursery rhyme created by Tim Burton'..
Last year, following the reaction to both their barnstorming cover of Hot Chip's 'Over and Over' and their debut singles 'Pisshead / Boat Song' and 'The Time That's Mine', their debut album "Twelve Ways To Count' was released and toured in Europe, to critical acclaim. The album, released in November in the UK, made many best of 2008 album lists, was album of the day on BBC 6Music, and was described as 'so heartbreakingly beautiful, it reduces anyone who hears it to a weeping mess' in the NME.
Having toured extensively in many countries, sometimes playing three shows a day in different cities - in headlines, festival slots, and major supports for the likes of Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - the band have honed their sound; and the intensity, honesty and closeness to be found at their concerts is unlike any other band currently touring.
Alongside The Miserable Rich, the band are founder members of a wider movement called the Willkommen Collective, a group of Brighton-based bands who share various members, including The Leisure Society, Sons of Noel and Adrian and Shoreline. |
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