News

The Miserable Rich Live Dates & New 'Covers' EP

• 9th Oct 2009

Brighton’s dashing electro-acoustic quintet The Miserable Rich have announced details of a new EP and some accompanying live dates. The ‘Covers’ EP is set for release on Humble Soul on the 16th November. To support the release, The Miserable Rich are heading out on a brief tour of the British Isles from the 15th October.

Following on from 2008’s acclaimed debut album ’Twelve Ways To Count’, the ‘Covers’ EP includes reworkings of alternative classics such as ‘Gigantic’ by The Pixies and ‘Sweet Dreams’ by Eurythmics. There are four tracks in total, all given a lulling rerub replete with strings and frontman James de Malplaquet’s dulcet vocals.

The Miserable Rich seem to attract a wealth of fantastical experiences and the inspiration for the ‘Covers’ EP is no exception. James cites his dalliance with a pop career as the dark past lurking behind this collection of covers, which was the precursor to forming The Miserable Rich. It seems that James nearly got fully subsumed into the big star-making pop machine, even getting to the stage where videos were shot and celebrity names recorded solos… Until disaster struck – as James recounts:

“In the end, I was rescued from certain credibility death by a polyp on my vocal chords. Too much singing and smoking. Now I couldn’t sing (not that that stops many) and couldn’t work. An operation, two months silence, two months whispering and a year off singing – it was all over.

“I learnt a lot though. Oh, we argued – how could we not? – but the value of a classic pop song itself was never in dispute. Along the way, we butchered at least three of my favourite examples – one of which we have attempted a more sympathetic version of on this record.

“The band know all about my experience. We’re a pretty shameless bunch – as anyone who’s eavesdropped on one of our soundchecks will know. After a few beers, we’re prone to burst into string-based versions of anything from ACDC to Phil Collins…

“I think that’s why the band did these songs. As for me – I did it to put the record straight. Pun intended.”

The Miserable Rich are set to release a second album of brand new material in early 2010, more details of which are to follow shortly.

Tracklisting

‘Golden Brown’ – The Stranglers
‘Gigantic’ – Pixies
‘Shades’ – Iggy Pop
‘Sweet Dreams’ – Eurythmics

Live dates

Thursday 15th October @ The Glee Club, Birmingham with support from Babel and The Random Family

Friday 16th October 2009 @ The Library, Leeds with The Random Family and Ian Williams

Sunday 18th October @ Sacred Trinity Church, Manchester with Table and The Random Family

Friday 23rd October @ The Croft, Bristol with Babel and The Random Family

Tuesday 3rd November Electroacoustic club @ The Slaughtered Lamb, London