The Miserable Rich

The Miserable Rich

The Miserable Rich are a British chamber pop group from Brighton, formed in 2007 and active from 2006. Their line-up centres on Will Calderbank on cello, James de Malplaquet on vocals, Mike Siddell on violin, Rhys Lovell on double bass, and Ricky Pritchard on acoustic guitar and piano. The group is associated with the Willkommen Collective, alongside acts including Shoreline, The Leisure Society and Sons of Noel and Adrian.

Formation and style

The band begins when Calderbank, Siddell and de Malplaquet meet while playing in Shoreline. De Malplaquet brings his own songs to the project, and the three rework them with cello and violin carrying the lead lines in a baroque chamber style. The group draws inspiration from Colin Blunstone’s Say You Don’t Mind and the Kronos Quartet’s Kraftwerk covers album. Their music develops from a core of violin, cello and double bass, later adding drums, electric guitar and piano on their third album for a heavier, more rhythmic sound.

Albums and recording

Their debut album, Twelve Ways to Count, is recorded over the summer of 2007, largely in de Malplaquet’s flat in Hove, with help from friends. It is described by NME as “heartbreakingly beautiful” and becomes a 6Music Album of the Day in November 2008. The first single, “Boat Song”, is iTunes Single of the Week and becomes a long-term favourite of Marc Riley and Guy Garvey on 6Music.

The second album, Of Flight & Fury, expands their reach further, leading to sessions on Radio 4’s Loose Ends and Mark Lamarr’s Radio 2 programme God’s Own Jukebox. Videos for “Somerhill” and “Hungover” are made with Wasp Video, and these lead to the band being invited to score the short film The Girl Is Mime for the 48hr Film Project. The film stars Martin Freeman, wins top awards in the International 48hr Film Project competition, and is shown at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and the LA Shorts Festival.

Their third album, Miss You In The Days, is released on Humble Soul in 2011 and becomes their latest album in the available material. It is written and recorded in Blickling Hall in Norfolk, a stately home and former ancestral home of the Boleyn family, where the band works in isolation with a recording engineer and a drummer. The record is associated with themes of sex, death and possession, and it receives strong critical attention, with several critics placing it among their year-end favourites.

Live shows and critical reception

To match the ghostly themes of Miss You In The Days, the band mounts a theatrical tour in unusual venues, including Oxford Castle, the Crypt of St John the Baptist’s Church in Bristol, Westminster Library and Blickling Hall itself for a Halloween show. Their live performances are described in the press as warm, humorous and note-perfect, and they are also referred to as one of the UK’s best live bands.