Malcolm Bruce Middleton (born 31 December 1973) is a Scottish musician and member of indie band Arab Strap. He has also released seven solo studio albums and three albums performing under the pseudonym Human Don't Be Angry. Early life Middleton was born in Dumfries but raised in Falkirk, Scotland. He attended Graeme High School. He played bass, guitar and sometimes sang in several bands in the 1990s, including Purple Bass Plectrum, Rabid Lettuce, Pigtube and The Laughing Stock. Career Arab Strap In 1995, Middleton and Aidan Moffat, after bonding over their love of musical artists such as Smog and Will Oldham, began making music under the name "Arab Strap". The band released six studio albums before splitting up in 2006. After they briefly reunited for a show at Nice n Sleazy in Glasgow in 2011, Middleton has said that he would be open to another Arab Strap gig at some point, but ruled out another record. The band did indeed reunite for a string of dates in 2016, marking their 20th anniversary, continuing the tour into 2017. In 2021 the band released their first new album in over 15 years, As Days Get Dark, also marking their return to performing live. Solo career Middleton released his first solo album 5:14 Fluoxytine Seagull Alcohol John Nicotine in 2002, followed by Into the Woods in 2005. After Arab Strap split in 2006, the album A Brighter Beat was released in 2007. The first song on the album "We're All Going To Die" was released as a single on 17 December and started off with odds of 1,000–1 against becoming the Christmas number one – reportedly the highest odds ever quoted. After support from social networking websites and from BBC Radio 1 DJ Colin Murray, the odds dropped to 9–1, and Middleton was 4th favourite for Christmas Number One behind Leona Lewis, Katie Melua ft Eva Cassidy and The X Factor winner Leon Jackson. Murray started supporting the song as a response to repeated Christmas chart domination by manufactured pop acts churned out by the likes of The X Factor. Middleton has said that, despite the song's negative-sounding title, he feels the song perfectly sums up the spirit of Christmas – the need to make the most of life while we have it. On the UK singles chart dated 23 December 2007 the song reached number 31, with the Christmas Number One being