Name: Distinctly Continental by Voltage Poetry Project
Duration: 4 min 14 s
Description: A song about emerging from challenging times, in glorious fashion. It was inspired by a few visits to Birmingham and includes a few references to the city in its lyric - along with Edinburgh and Reims, which are perhaps associated more with opulence and glamour (even if it isn't always the truth.)

Wonderful vibes and lyrics 🎶🎶🎶 love the chorus drop 🥰🥰 great work VPP 👏👏👏

Love the synth hook - takes me back to the 80’s!

Definitely a John Foxx or Steve Strange (Visage) feel to this track, and I agree with the others…the lyrics are great, and really suit your vocals.

Brilliant, offbeat and original - tells a story through the vocals and artful/stealthy synth-smithery - great hooks and changes of pace/feel. It makes me think of faded glamour: one of those tracks which conjures up visual images. Really sophisticated lyrics - plus effortless prosody. In terms of reference points you've got Marc Almond/Pet Shop Boys/Leonard Cohen if he'd nailed his synth period but this is something entirely of its own.

next time I recommend give some transition for volume of vocals with noise or fix this vocal noise. it is not comfortable.

Really like this –Leonard Cohen locked in a cellar with Steve Strange. Nice work!

Great hook in the keys and dig the deep Bauhaus-like vocals!

The next album from Time. Space. Repeat. - the soundtrack to a utopian society, destroyed by hubris and unforeseen events. Everything has its consequence.

Bossa Never

You can sit wherever you like, but
Don't distract the autopilot
For your safety and mine
Please be orderly behind the line

The future's bright
And the past is dead
Put your trust in the power of rust
At least I think that's what he said

Please can I politely advise you
To do whatever the autopilot says
Please relax and enjoy the ride
As we plummet to our fiery deaths
We could try to fight or run but
I guess it all depends
If you value your freedom or comfort more
It's all the same in the end

The future's written
And the past is gone
For your safety and convenience
The camera is always on

Invest your every movement with meaning
That's the only way we'll beat them
Are you certain who you're talking to?
Are you certain that you've thought this through?

The past is yours but the future's dead (repeat)
Ah I think that's what he said

Don't distract the autopilot

You can sit wherever you like, but
Don't distract the autopilot
Or he might bring your vehicle
To a sudden stop

Don't Distract the Autopilot

This is my single submission for the 2023 Album Writing Club.

Here is the complete playlist of the entries: on.soundcloud.com/GLd3t

Please vote for your favorites (up to three) here: forms.gle/o9NTgKWpqWqKVx7x9

Dark horse, came from nothin’
Disregards whatever makes his life complete
Black sheep, started runnin’
Traveled far, searchin’ for something to beat
Black eye, hindered vision
Head aloft, forcing us to understand
Boxed ears, you never listen
Shouting off whoever wants to lend a hand

What a struggle when you’re always right
How difficult that seems
If only all of us would see the light
We could start building your dreams

Reelin’ mad, so pathetic
Debate is trash when winning is the only goal
Feelin’ bad, sympathetic
Watching as you spiral down a rabbit hole
Honor bound, keep on talkin’
Right or not, you’re acting like a total douche
Turn around, just start walkin’
Haven’t got the energy to deal with you

Can just imagine all the bridges burning and fences you’ve built up
Walls and chambers, battlements as you refuse the drawbridge lowered

Fair play that fateful Tuesday
Shot a dove and pushed away an olive branch
His way or the highway
Makes a peace sign with his fist and calls it righteousness
Can’t miss the looks and comments
I’ve been catchin’ all the salty vibes you’re sendin’ me
If this is how he treats us
Just imagine what he visits on his enemies

All the demons and the feral winds that you loose upon your home
Can maybe chalk it up to arrogance as to why you die alone

Scenes From an Empty Stage

Fences

Written, performed and produced by Ian Allison.

From the Marzihu EP 'Four Minute Warning' – a snapshot of the lives of four people at the moment of the Four MInute Warning. 'Sysiphus' is the story of a woman whose relationship is ending due to relentless, monotonous, unsupported, thankless domesticity. Told in the style of HP Lovecraft/Geezer Butler… Lyrics:

Have you… ever been to a dark place?
A place of promises and lies?
She sits, all alone with the vaccuum,
It’s where her hopelessness resides.
Her dreams feel like ashes in the morning,
She dusts the dust, to earth it must return.
She waits for an absent invitation,
Ignores the place… where fires used to burn.

Now even Sysiphus must die!

Sysiphus

A song about emerging from challenging times, in glorious fashion. It was inspired by a few visits to Birmingham and includes a few references to the city in its lyric - along with Edinburgh and Reims, which are perhaps associated more with opulence and glamour (even if it isn't always the truth.)

Distinctly Continental

The Kiss of the Enchantress 

High up in the Sierra			
both sides are terrified			
It’s so hot in here 				
the snow waits outside 		

Sweat drips from the ceiling
Blood slips on the floor 	
Fear takes its icy grip		
The wolf is at the door		

Release me from this fever		
Release me from this spell		
High up on a snowy mountain 	
But my angel fell				

Like a Murnau movie 			
Monochrome and vivid red 	
The Kiss of the Enchantress 
An evil crown on your head

KISS OF THE ENCHANTRESS

Gil Barco is the story of a ghostly attendant at this abandoned garage. 

Fun fact: her name came from the make of the middle pump.

v1 - instrumental (lead guitar over acoustic)
v2 - 
dont loiter here
dont interfere
From the girl on the inside you dont deserve a smile
Shes made it clear

v3
she's watching through the glass
But wont even think to ask
Through the window with the shelves full with clutter that she sells
And time will pass

spooky instrumental

v4 - instrumental (lead guitar over acoustic)
v5 - 
There's so much that isn't known
It seems we are forever closed
Attended service is denied so will you kindly step aside
It's time to go

v6 -
so Gil Barco thinks she'll stay
maybe just another day
she doesn't yet believe that it's impossible to leave
she cannot say

spook

m8 - 
a whisper through the peeling paint 
bleached by sun and soaked by rain
And though he seems to stare right through 
she hopes he'll ride this way again

spook

motorbike arrives
shop door attention bell tinkles

Gil Barco (awc unmastered)

Don't Shine Your Light On Me

The partners of HJJW present to you Playing Office from their business themed album ‘Sound Investments’. Combining the skills of Andrew Hartshorn, Cosmic Bos (the Jackson brothers) and ASeaWarren, this musical slice of modern office life takes you on a journey through the 9 to 5, examining the existential crisis of work life balances and overtime taxes, timesheets and insurance policies, major lifts and minor falls. The themes of the album are directly represented in Playing Office, with its references to Michael Scott and David Brent, and a couple of other hidden Easter eggs for the office media savvy, the job is what you make it, so make it fun.

HJJ&W are here to represent music made by the people for the people, vote for Playing Office and help HJJ&W become the legitimate musical firm they are destined to become.

PLAYING OFFICE by HJJ&W

Went to the music market today
We did a business and came away
With a bag full of bass lines and half whistled tunes
A four to the floor that we accent with spoons
Tidy melodies all stocked and shared
Progressive chord structures harmonically paired
Time to play office, we’re cutting it fine 
Under a tight rapidly approaching deadline

I wanna be Jim
But I’m probably Dwight
Or Michael Scott at threat level midnight
It’s entertainment 
Clear for all to see
We’re victims of the industry 

But it’s okay, we are artists at heart
Our dedication needs to be to our art
We’re playing office so we can pay the bills
While in our spare time keep developing skills
Turning hobbies into business is hard
Your wits must be sharp and always on guard
Reading contracts when you’re just a bard
That makes albums in sheds in a tiny backyard 

Feeling like Tim
But acting like Brent
So much time paid for and poorly misspent 
Wake up like Dawn
Take charge like Pam
The sweetest of sounds always spread like jam
Be your own boss
Bend all the rules
Stop playing office and start playing school
Learning’s cool
We are all fools

Break the habit, break, break the habit
Chase the rabbit, chase, chase the rabbit
We’ve never had it, never, ever had it
We blinked it bolted and no one could grab it

Change the pattern, change, change the pattern
Pass the baton, pass, pass the baton
It’s bound to happen, bound, bound to happen 
Right on the seats that we’re sat on

I wanna be Jim
But I’m probably Dwight
Or Michael Scott, Threat Level Midnight all right
Feeling like Tim
But foolish like Brent
Time milked for money just to barely scrape rent
Waking to Dawn
Open like Pam
Doing the business and not falling for scams
With my red stapler
I’m going to town
Say otherwise and I’ll burn the whole building down

Playing Office

Voodoo HooHaa

Where Dreamers Are Selfish was about ambition, ego, and the cost of chasing visions, Selfish Dreams Love brings the spotlight back to the heart — intimacy, vulnerability, desire, and the bittersweet beauty of relationships.
The title is layered:
“Selfish” → owning your truth, your needs, your vulnerability without shame.
“Dreams” → the pursuit of ideals, whether love, freedom, or artistry.
“Love” → the unifying theme — romantic, spiritual, communal.

Pure Soul

Lo-fi songs on synths. Twitter: www.twitter.com/voltage_poetry Bandcamp: www.voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com

Distinctly Continental

Voltage Poetry Project

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