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On A Certain Night
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On A Certain Night
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Released: Oct 31, 2011
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On A Certain Night

Biog

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 or 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 Willkommen Collective members to be 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.

By James Kendall

PS - If you like 'em, let 'em know. They like that. Don't we all.

PPS may the mosquitos find your blood too salty.

I think you can see that ginger toms are clearly the best

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General Info

  • Genre: Alternative / Classical / Rock

    Location Brighton, South, Un

    Profile Views: 528828

    Last Login: 5/23/2012

    Member Since 11/22/2006

    Website themiserablerich.co.uk

    Record Label humble soul (UK) hazelwood vinyl plastics (GAS)

    Type of Label Indie

  • Bio

    The Miserable Rich's story began in Brighton in 2007. Will Calderbank (cello), Mike Siddell (violin) and James de Malplaquet (vocals) met each other when playing in the much-loved alt-folk band Shoreline. James had a collection of songs of his own, and he and Will had started to work on these, playing with various electronica ideas (perhaps influenced by James's time touring with Bonobo) and performing as a band under the name The Grape Authority. It was James' idea to bring Mike in and to revisit some of the songs with the idea of using cello and violin to play all the lead parts, much like a baroque chamber ensemble. They gathered at James's flat, where he played them Colin Blunstone's 1970 classic "Say You Don't Mind" and the Kronos Quartet's Kraftwerk covers album. The initial concept was born, and this is what really separates The Miserable Rich from the plethora of bands currently employing strings in their lineup: where other bands use cello and violin to augment the standard indie set up of guitar, bass and drums, The Miserable Rich set out deliberately to turn that notion on its head, the strings becoming the feature in the arrangements, with guitar and bass providing the rhythm and harmonic backing. They started recording, and over the summer of 2007 (mostly in James's flat in Hove) they put together twelve songs with a little help from their friends, now more widely known as The Willkommen Collective. The first single, Boat Song, was iTunes Single Of The Week, and has become a long-term favourite of Marc Riley and Guy Garvey on 6Music. The debut album, Twelve Ways To Count, was 6Music Album of The Day in November 2008. "heartbreakingly beautiful" 8/10 NME "The Miserable Rich's striking, fully fledged debut immediately sets them apart." Q "Breathtaking... Easily the best record of 2008" Americana UK "gentle brilliance" Bearded Sophomore album, Of Flight & Fury, saw the band extend their reach, with sessions on Radio 4's Loose Ends and Mark Lamarr's Radio 2 show, God's Own Jukebox. Two videos (for "Somerhill" and "Hungover") were filmed with Wasp Video, leading to the band to being invited to score the short film "The Girl Is Mime" for the 48hr Film Project. The film stars Martin Freeman (The Office, Sherlock), and as well as winning the top awards in the International 48hr Film Project competition, is showing at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. "as if they captured the sun and learned how to play it" 10/10 Outline "Very likely the best record of 2010." 10/10 Americana UK "a perfect accompaniment to those lazy summer nights" High Voltage "a rich distinctive sound; The Miserable Rich are instrumentally very talented, sound like no one else and have a sense of the old world about them" 9/10 Virgin Online Two critically lauded albums and three years of touring later, the band decided to change things round a little. They holed themselves up in a stately home in Norwich to write and record their third album, bringing in a recording engineer and a drummer. Blickling Hall, the haunted ancestral home of the Boleyn family, provided the setting, and they spent February 2011 putting together the tracks for the follow up to 2010's Of Flight & Fury. New single "Anything's Possible" is released on 19th June. The new album, titled "Miss You In The Days" will be released in October.

  • Members

    Will Calderbank Mike Siddell Rhys Lovell Ricky Pritchard James de Malplaquet

  • Influences

    mum, dad, newspapers, girls...

  • Sounds Like

    the sound of one lip kissing

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