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    Compact disc version of the new album.

    Our first studio album in 12 years - and perhaps our most meaningful and immediate.

    The title comes from an area of language I had been exploring with my students; the contranym – words which are the opposite of themselves. Dust, buckle and sanction are all good examples of these. I liked how The Miserable Rich Overcome could have interpretations of strength and of weakness.

    In truth, the album came about due to both these things. It is the product of us getting together because some of us were going through some particularly difficult times. The music was a good excuse to hang out. Pizza, beer. Talk. Occasional tune. After a while, we kind of had an album.

    On many hills in Sussex, you can see these beautifully bent hawthorn trees. They incredibly compelling, shaped by the harsh coastal winds, and it is hard not to anthropomorphise them. They are beautiful to us because they look like they have been through great difficulty. Without this – the less misshapen trees are far less eye-catching. The beauty is the product of this perceived pain.

    I thought this would be a fitting emblem for the album. I googled images and found an amazing one. I found the photographer on Facebook and asked him where it was. He was very kind and sent me a pin, it was just next to Cuckmere Haven – a very special place for me wife and I. it is where we took our son’s ashes – a place we go back to each year on the anniversary of his death to launch a boat I carve for him and mu wife fills with orange flowers she has collected for him. It is very close to the place we organise a sponsored walk each year for the charity we started in his name.

    I photographed the tree in winter and in late spring bloom to represent both the desperation and the hope that are part of making and meaning of the record. You can flip the vinyl over to reflect which side is closest to your mood.

    Includes the final song to be added - 'Poem For Suzanne'.

    Release date: 2nd Feb 2024

    Includes unlimited streaming of Overcome via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.     ... more
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about

This song was written for our reunion gig – Kitfest - The one day festival I put on the anniversary weekend that should have been our son Kit’s 1st birthday. Our band and quite a few others – most of them much bigger than us – played for free to raise funds and awareness of the dangers neonatal HSV.

The idea comes from the nurse who told us when we left the hospital for the last time without Kit that we must stick together like glue. I wasn’t sure how I would approach songwriting after all that happened, but in the end it all started to come out right away. I am very grateful to Jim for letting me pour it out on his song.

Thank also to Jen Left who voices sings to give my wife voice here. She has been a huge supporter to KTF and is an amazing pillar to her community. I proposed to my wife for the second time in her pub – and she recorded these vocals in the top room there.
And what a voice.

lyrics

‘They said I should stick to you like glue
After what the two of us went through
Nothing more than we already knew
No hiding there
Broke beyond repair
But nothing better we could do

They said there was no more they could do
After all our poor boy had been through
And we were there
broke beyond repair
But nothing better we could do

All the things you’ve seen
That never should be seen
All the memories
Pour them into me

All that should have been
All the broken dreams
All the memories
Pour them in to me

They said I should stick to you like glue
After what the three of us went through
Rest assured it’s what’s I’ll always do
oh I’ll be there
soldered in despair
But nothing better we could do’

credits

from Overcome, released February 2, 2024
Music: J. Briffett, W. Calderbank, M. Deering, J. de Malplaquet, R. Lovell
Lyrics: J. de Malplaquet

Violin: Mike Siddell
Guest Vocal: Jennifer Left

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The Miserable Rich Brighton, UK

creators of the fiery chamber music for song lovers: tellers of tales, writers of tunes, forgetters of punchlines. equal parts surly, silly and sumptuous.

the sound of one lip kissing.

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