The Miserable Rich is the brainchild of the outstandingly named Will Calderbank and James de Malplaquet. Initially going for it as a duo under the Grape Authority, they changed their name after they played a rather wealthy couple’s wedding in Rome and brought in Mike Siddell from the slightly missed Hope of the States, Jim Briffett and Rhys Lovell to complete the folk-tinged chamber pop line up.

Opener ‘Early Mourning’ is a very promising start, with a wonderful string arrangement and it is clear that de Malplaquet has an endearing voice that fits beautifully with the music swirling around him. ‘Pisshead’ tells the story of a drunk who needs a few AA sessions quick but this is a song and an album that may just be perfect for a few hangovers on a Sunday morning. The relaxing tones of ‘Twelve Ways to Count’ are especially apparent on tracks like ‘Boat Song’, ‘The Knife Thrower’s Hand’ and the splendid closer ‘Button My Lip’.

A couple of tracks do grate however. ‘Monkey’ feels like it goes on and on and one which I’ll happily press the skip button and ‘North Villas’ has incredibly annoying warblings in the background, before coming to the fore and giving us all a maths lesson. Thankfully though the next song and upcoming single ‘The Time That’s Mine’ restores order with some beautifully layered strings that are fairly jolly compared to the rest of the album. The lyrics may fall on deaf ears if you are in the increasingly large number of unemployed though. “Ten days, ten days, nine days, nine days, eight more days til payday, that’s the way I waste my time – Waiting til what’s mine is mine”. Now that’s not the attitude is it?

Perhaps best of all though is the hidden track – the thirteenth way to count if you will – arriving a good four minutes after ‘Button My Lip’. It sounds like a welcoming ceremony into heaven as you’re floating through the pearly gates or someone reading their wedding vows as the string quartet works their magic in the background on the sun basked lawn. If you want to laze around in the sun (hard at this time of year granted) or lounge around on a Sunday afternoon this is quite possibly the album for you.
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mp3:> The Miserable Rich ‘The Knife Thrower’s Hand’

The Miserable Rich on MySpace

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