When you find it hard remembering
where to turn left or right
and your mind is just meandering 
through the labyrinth inside 

Counting steps, but you’re not getting near 
now you’ve circled back again
Round each corner there is only your fear
it’s a dead end city plan 

And you don’t have any answers lately
just bitter words on your tongue
yet the tenor only tells you vaguely
the road ahead’s rough and long

So you’re roaming the back streets of your psyche 
wond’ring what’s around the bend 
you can ruminate, but it seems unlikely 
to see it from where you stand 

So you’re roaming the back streets of your psyche
a map waiting to be misread
If panoramas are what you’re looking for 
would you find them inside your head?

Dead end city plan

She sits quietly 
behind the window, watching passers-by 
on her side of the glass all colour's drained from life 

Nights and days are all the same 
awfully equal and awake 
life lingers on until the moment she will break 

All she held onto fell away 
'till there remained nothing left to say 
no more comfort beside the lies we tell to soothe her days 

Gold has turned to rust 
and every line of silver has a cloud 
a monsoon of misery is pouring out 

There is no music in the monotone 
no dance left in her brittle bones 
no roses in her favorite cologne 
all is monochrome 

What she still remembers is a curse 
- the treehouse, the smell of a freshly mowed lawn 
sentimental feelings are the worst 
- playing with her sister all day long 
how she wishes that she would forget 
- that the treehouse and her sister are gone 
but dementia hasn't kicked in yet 
- her body is weak but her mind is still strong 

There is no music in the monotone 
no dance left in her brittle bones 
no roses in her favorite cologne 
all is monochrome

Monochrome

I would say you're a good influence 
not many can compare 
with your bubbly kind of innocence 
you're quite extraordinaire 

I lost count of all the compliments 
the praise you bring to bear 
building up our social sentiments 
when the weather's fair 

So let's call it a coincidence 
that you're just never there 
when I'm struggling with my confidence 
you've never a moment to spare 

Time is tight for you, I understand 
you never were prepared 
for the trappings of your decadence 
and all those hats to wear 

You have always got the upperhand 
not blaming you, I swear 
though I sometimes need acknowledgement 
for the passions that I share 

I am sure it's not indifference 
it's not that you don't care 
but I'm not getting much encouragement 
from your vacant stare 

You shift and you sway 
conflict what you say 
you might steady tomorrow, 
not today 

l am sensing some ambivalence 
but I am well aware 
you're just challenging my tolerance

Social sentiments

I wrote this song around 2006, it was a pop rock song then. In 2012 I made an instrumental gamelan version to use in the promo of the Tong Tong Fair (check it out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mczN1juPCPw). But I thought the combination of both versions could be interesting, so in 2017 I started working on a new arrangement. This is the result: indiepop fused with balinese gamelan, a hint of Stranger Things and electronic beats. I handpainted the artwork with acrylic paint. I'd love to hear what this music reminds you of.

You can also find this track on Spotify and Bandcamp.

Spiders on the carpet

Like a leaf falling in spring 
or a dead tree blossoming 
like a bird that will not fly
I feel something is awry

Like silence amidst a crowd
or a whisper that comes out loud
this is not where I should be
I feel misplaced, I'm out of key

For so long I had aspired
to a vision that I admired
but my resonant desire
is now a silent choir

----------------------------------

You can buy this track on my Bandcamp page: https://kalipluche.bandcamp.com/

Silence amidst a crowd

This is the title track from my upcoming debut album. Originally this was a song with vocals, but I decided to make it an instrumental. Let me know if you think the artwork I made suits the track, because I wasn't sure.

Portable animals

We had the superlatives
for a perfect future tense 
Plot twist in our narrative:
that's not how the story ends

Yesterday we were poetry
now we're pulp, and nothing rhymes
This change came so suddenly, 
should I've read between the lines?

Me with all my loyalty 
I had written your name in gold 
underlined and in uppercase
now a strike goes through it all

Couldn't you come up with anything to say
you left it open ended
maybe you're afraid of the typical cliche:
we're on a different page

You are not the open book
that you've always portrayed for me 
Or could it just be a case 
of interpersonal illiteracy?

Couldn't you come up with anything to say
you left it open ended
maybe too afraid of the typical cliche:
we're on a different page

Guess I don't fit in your storyline
but you wrote me off so easily
and while the ink was barely dry
you tore our novel to pieces

Watch the official lyric video: https://youtu.be/icKdqdzooKk

Open ended

I couldn't help myself to pick up the phone
I left two messages after the tone
You left me with so many questions and doubts
will you get back to me so we can talk it out?

It's overwhelming and I don't know what to think
the dirty dishes are still in the kitchen sink
I didn't feel like washing up the empty plates 
just like myself the house is in a sorry state

There is no excuse to be this immature
how it keeps happening, I'm not really sure
And still you care for me, but in my defense  
when we're together I give up my common sense
 
Lull me, hush me, lure me in 
I will play up to your weakness, I'll get under your skin
Bribe me, bait me, wear me thin
we are really not that different - we're pretty much akin 

I know this is the fourth or fifth time I call
but in my head I've hit a monumental wall
I have always been attached, so that's nothing new
If you still need me, then I guess I need you too

If you still need me

Kalipluche is the multi-passion project of Karianne Hylkema, a Dutch songwriter and 'bedroom producer'. Since the early 2000s she has been working on demos, worth of nearly three full-length albums, which she mostly kept to herself. As of 2016 she's been polishing arrangements and lyrics, re-recording the songs for digital release. Ranging from dark introspective melancholy to lighthearted energy the sound reflects Karianne's ambivert nature pretty well, and can be outlined as 'alternative dreampop'. Her handpainted artwork adds to that atmosphere and is as detailed as the music itself. In 2018 she released a self-produced video for her single 'Glitter out of rain', another creative outlet to embellish the realm of Kalipluche.

You may also know Karianne as half of indie pop duo @vintage-futura, with Michiel Papenhove (ex-Within Temptation). But with her solo undertakings she has a more intuitive approach to songwriting; compositions flow as they come to mind, structure is secondary to ambience.

Currently Kalipluche is still revamping material from her music vault, aiming to release her debut album, Portable Animals.

Kalipluche

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