A playlist full of tracks created by the writers, musicians and producers of our music community, "The MusiCollective" - this is the January 2022 edition, which means we've concluded a full year of monthly playlists already! Go us!

A huge congratulations to everyone involved in this. We have a mix of complete recording newbies, seasoned pros and everything in between. All as incredible as each other. 

The MusiCollective is a community of people that get behind each others' projects, for example by helping with songwriting, arrangements, recording and production. It is a continuation of TGS Records (@tgs-records) which started as a lockdown project and has been snowballing new members in ever since. If you'd like to join us, get in touch by emailing themusicollective21@gmail.com or filling in this short form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgUPAkshXrqaB3yjG3Npa5lZVMs2uqxgzYX77DeZb8HHCYpA/viewform?usp=sf_link

TMC Records - January 2022 playlist

Best described as a late night lullaby sung to myself.

I Am The Ocean

A song about throwing all caution to the wind. It started out with just that phrase, as part of that brutal 1-verse/chorus-a-day-for-a-month songwriting challenge, and then turned into a (fictional, but at times relateable) story of someone who's ready to quit their job and do something else.

This is part of my second "album", https://soundcloud.com/jenni-grossmann/sets/when-the-curtain-falls

Verse 1
In the morning she can’t get out of bed
Keeps clinging onto all this dreams that she once had
Before reality told her to grow up instead
And get those crazy ideas out of her head

Verse 2 
In the kitchen she stares into her cereal,
Wonders is this really all there is to see 
Am I made of the wrong kind of material 
To cut a more ethereal slice of the world for me

Chorus
One day she’ll just throw all caution to the wind,
Step on the ice it’s paper thin,
Take a big leap and dive right in,
She’s played enough, this time she’ll win.

Verse 3
On the way to work this guy’s eyes and hers meet
Every day she’s staring at her feet, never says hello.
She just pictures herself returning his smile 
And sitting next to him and just talking a little while.

Verse 4 (Day 27)
Half an hour later the bus spits her out,
Right into a slow-moving crowd that’s pulling her along,
She’s thinking one day I’m gonna swim the other way
And never give a damn again what all the others say.

Chorus 
One day I’ll just throw all caution to the wind,
Step on the ice it’s paper thin,
Take a big leap and dive right in,
I’ve played enough, this time I’ll win.

Verse 5
Sit up straight, keep your eyes glued to the screen,
Music loud to drown out the screaming in your brain.
Pretend that nothing is wrong with feeling this way,
Just counting down the minutes of every hour, day after day.

Verse 6
And so she keeps getting up for yet another cup of tea
Until the ticking of the clock finally tells her to go home,
To microwave yesterday’s leftover takeaway for one, 
Embracing another night on her own, with the TV on.

Verse 7
Late at night she tries to sing herself to sleep,
But the buzzing in her head and ears keeps her wide awake.
She sits up straight, slowly starts changing her strings,
Coils them up, getting ready to make way for better things.

Chorus
One day she’ll just throw all caution to the wind,
Step on the ice it’s paper thin,
Take a big leap and dive right in
She’s played enough, this time she’ll win.
She’s had enough of the game, this time she’ll win.
I’ve had enough of the game this time I’ll win.

When The Curtain Falls

Caution To The Wind

My first full-length LP, but certainly not the last. 

Thanks so much to James Norris for producing this and contributing some beautiful lead guitar, bass, and string parts. And thanks to Kerry Norris for contributing some very cool bass lines!

Spinning

This song was inspired by someone I used to be close friends with as a teenager. Its about growing up, feeling like an outsider, wondering if that person still thinks about you. 

Massive loves to @jenni-grossmann for her beautiful violin and harmonies, once again she has managed to lift my song to the next level!

-------------------------------------------------------
You had me believing we were broken
So we painted our faces and grew our hair
Adolescence spelled out in eyeliner
There's no shortcuts through there

Would you still sing my name
If no-one ever listened?
Still write down how it felt
If no-one ever reads?

All the same kind of nothing
But our nothings don't function the same
Soft and lost and lonely
Long, dark and sustained 

Would you still sing my name
If no-one ever listened?
Still write down how it felt
If no-one ever reads?

But to make yourself feel nothing
To not feel anything
Oh what a waste
What a waste

Would you still sing my name
If no-one ever listened?
Still write down how it felt
If no-one ever reads?

Broken (feat. Jenni Grossmann)

This was the first song I ever played live :)I wrote it to reflect that feeling you get when you look back and think of what could've been.

High Hopes

Words, music, performance and production ℗ Ell Freeman 2022.

That's how it starts 
Just a tender patch  
That you dare not scratch 
Though it stings and smarts 

But as the days go past 
Even the softest touch  
Still hurts so much   
That's when it starts  

A fleeting feeling 
That whispers in your head 
No healing  
Just fearing 
The day you wake up dead 

Give me just one more chance
Give me just one more chance

With the gathering moss
Your thoughts turn sad
With the pain of loss
For what you never had

While your daily chore 
Helps to numb the sore 
Slow but sure 
You begin to withdraw 

But there’s that nagging feeling
That screams inside your head
If you don’t start living 
One day you’ll wake up dead

Give me just one more chance
Give me just one more chance

One more chance 
One more chance 

That’s how it starts
That’s how it starts
That’s how it starts, I know 
That’s how it starts, I know because
This is how it ends.

Tender Patch

Walk In Your Shoes (prod. Ell Freeman)

Broadly Speaking

Spit

Will they, or won’t they? What did you take from it?
Do say, or don’t say, but get it out the way. 
Maybe, just maybe, you keep me hanging on, 
Don’t take this the wrong way, but even we can see it, clear as day…

But it’s the same thing that happens every day, 
All the time they’re edging closer, then they back away,
Just a little step from going all the way,
Will they or won’t they? 

Will they or won’t they? You aren’t the only one
My way or the highway, the same as anyone
More luck than yesterday? Nothing to come undone
Who labelled us this way? Our time has just begun…

They’re drawn closer together, then they pull away, 
They’re thinking the same things, but feeling scared to say,
But they’re both afraid to take a step away, 
Will they or won’t they? 

Will they or won’t they, at the same time,
Walk through the doorway, I’m getting sick and tired
Will they or won’t they, no there’s nothing else
Prices we won’t pay, [or will we?]

But it’s the same thing that happens every day, 
All the time they’re edging closer, then they back away,
Just a little step from going all the way,
Will they or won’t they?

Will They Or Won't They

Massive thanks to the amazing @jenni-grossmann for her vocals, violin and feedback on this song which would be nothing without her. Do yourself a favour and go and listen to her music instead of mine :-)

Lyrics:

Listening on the wind for a call
Is this how we get away from it all?
Turn away from everything and run for the hills
It feels we should be healing but the hole never fills
Silence on the telephone line
I could tell you but I don’t have the time
Our eyes are speaking volumes that our words never could
I’d die just to touch you but I don’t think I should

Drive it all away
Drive it all away
We were searching for a river to dive in
Now we’re looking for a hole to die in
Drive it all away
Drive it all away
We were searching for a river to dive in
Now they’re digging us a ditch to die in

Fly away
Fly away
Fly away

Trying not to hate on ourselves
We tried so hard to be someone else
Now the world is burning and it’s nobody’s fault
I think I’ve got the answer but it’s not what I thought
Waiting on the edge of a storm
But I don’t know what we’re waiting for
You’ve woken up a monster that I thought we had lost
And now it’s coming back again I’m scared of the cost


Drive it all away
Drive it all away
We were searching for a river to dive in
Now we’re looking for a hole to die in
Drive it all away
Drive it all away
We were searching for a river to dive in
Now they’re digging us a ditch to die in
All we ever wanted was a world to survive in
Hang on to my dreams and we’ll
Fly away

Fly Away (feat Jenni)

On A Postcard Please

Enjoy :)

Please ask if you would like to remix this track or use in a project.

Vocals and lyrics by: @emilytheodora
Guitar and produced by: @kawaves_music

All rights reserved. This work is protected by copyright.

Playground ft. Kawaves (Demo)

Updated the description for Jan 22 TMC playlist! This is an old one from many years ago, but I don't have any new recordings this month! Better get back to it in Feb :)

Take me back

The MusiCollective is a community of musicians that get behind each others' projects, for example by helping with songwriting, arrangements, recording and production. It is a continuation of TGS Records (https://soundcloud.com/tgs-records) which started as a lockdown project and has been snowballing new members in ever since. If you'd like to join us, get in touch by emailing themusicollective21@gmail.com or filling in this short form: https://forms.gle/yhyjNKzWGidVCZgN9