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Blue Suburbia

by Traffic Experiment

supported by
Michael Stevens
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Michael Stevens I like this very much. The musicianship is high quality and the male vocalist has an excellent voice. Highly recommended.
Nate Wilson
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Nate Wilson The intro with the simple acoustic guitar and haunting background tone lead me right into the fitting lyrics. The change in tempo around the midpoint of the song was very refreshing. Favorite track: Ghosts & Shadows.
David Davis
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David Davis I love this band and this album. After a bad day at work, I'll come home and pour a glass of wine and just get lost in this album. Excellent music. Spacey, dreamy, etherical and just some killer music to listen and get into. Buy this! Favorite track: The Astronomer.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    If you prefer your music in a more tactile format, we've also released Blue Suburbia as an 11-track compact disc, beautifully packaged in a 3-panel fold-out cardboard DigiPak case, including a 16-page full-colour booklet of all the album artwork, lyrics liner notes and photos.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Blue Suburbia via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 1 day
    edition of 1000 

      £9 GBP

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  • Digital Album
    Streaming + Download

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

    If you like to keep your music purely in the digital domain, Blue Suburbia is available as a download of 11 tracks. With the download we've also included access to a 22-page Flash-animated digital booklet containing all the artwork, lyrics and photos from the CD version.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £6 GBP

    You own this

     

1.
The signal comes in a flash of green And sets the rats upon their way Wheel-to-wheel and nose-to-tail So, will I play? Metallic roars and Pirelli screams A motion-blur in dust and flame Forget the rules, don't give an inch It's just a game The Sun will come and the race will begin There's nowhere to run with the walls closing in Escape is the dream but it preys on my mind that it's too late It's hard to make sense of the photographs Of the twisted metal graves Our faith is in technology And all it saves The spiralled tracks remind us of The ghosts of yesterday The blood that stains the tarmac red Fades away The Sun will come up and the race will begin There's nowhere to run with the walls closing in Escape is the dream but it preys on my mind that its too late It's easy to deny and blame The recklessness of youth But in the end we're all the same And here's the truth The jack-knife hidden round the bend Will one day lie in wait The brakes are locked and fingers crossed But it's too late The Sun will come up and the race will begin There's nowhere to run with the walls closing in Escape is the dream but it preys on my mind that it's too late
2.
The new cog in your machine has already started to rust The decay of our childhood dreams, stagnated and gathering dust Each minute that drags itself by is another minute's money in the bank Each minute that drags itself by is another minute that I'll never get back The future had seemed so bright before Now day after day you want me to do this once more (with feeling) The years seem to stretch behind and I still haven't come all that far I need freedom to motivate more than promotion and a company car When I'm stuck in an endless queue, through traffic experiments, past diversion signs While beneath my mind's paperwork lie forgotten melodies and unfinished lines And life seems to drain from every pore And day after day you want me to do this once more (with feeling) I used to believe I'd have all I desired Now each day's the same and it leaves me so tired The stars in the night sky that had me inspired now seem dimmed And so I can't do this once more Sleep, work, eat, work, sleep, work, eat, work, sleep, work, eat, work, sleep, work, eat, work, sleep, work, eat, work, sleep, work, eat, work, sleep, work, eat, work, sleep, work, eat, work, sleep... Confined within these four walls I plan out my great escape As I cling on to this fading dream and pray I've not too long left to wait And the world moves on through that door And day after day you want me to do this once more I thought independence would help set me free Now I'm living my dreams through the things on TV While the feelings I had for this world around me have been numbed And so I can't do this once more
3.
The stars rise high above the bay And filter down through ocean spray A path that wanders up and down Past the dunes and sleeping town Across the silver frosted field Where the blackened firs shield And there beneath a darkened dome The astronomer watches all alone In a world of lunatics He has no time for politics Lives in wonder of the skies Sees the world through open eyes Beyond the frontiers of the land Beyond the air and sea and sand There's a world outside our own And it belongs to him alone Turn down the lights The dome starts to spin Open the shutter Let the starlight in He'll tell you the story Of how it began And how it will end In its master plan Before the first rays cross the bay Before Orion fades away Before the sand dunes turn to gold And fairways into emerald On a path that travels down Past the burn and waking town A man is slowly heading home The astronomer's work tonight is done
4.
Vacuum 02:03
I was drifting through the vacuum of these days Hoping salvation would come my way Thought I might find it in the comfort of your bed And your touch would clear my stormy head Because lately I've forgotten how to feel Now temptation burns with desire that's so real But your fidelity holds my tongue, never to reveal I was searching through the fragments of today In case your words gave you away If I could see into the corners of your mind Would it be me that I would find? But my demons were a piss-poor excuse And I tried to change but was no use And now with his diamonds and his child you've forged the blade to cut me loose
5.
Sirens 09:50
Now cast away and lost at sea Upon the waves of uncertainty With shipwrecked heart and shipwrecked mind Temptation sailing close behind I lock myself up to the mast Deny the solitude of the past But when the mist come rolling in I hear the Sirens start to sing And now I hear the many tales Of those before who've tried and failed The endless quest for something pure But where it lies they're not so sure With scars as proof of what they say They spoke of dangers on the way Of those who practice to deceive With smiles that helped them to believe But could there be someone To lead me from oblivion? I lie awake beneath the stars Just trying to work out who we are Now that I can't see the shore I can't feel things any more And so I won't release the locks And end up lying on the rocks I won't end up broken on the rocks In a scene of deepest clarity She sailed right in from 'cross the sea And took me firmly by the hand And pointed me towards the land With lips that spoke of something pure She drove my mind towards the shore And let me dream of what could be With songs from far across the sea And could you be someone To save me from oblivion Light my way beneath the stars Take me home and heal the scars? If I can't see the shore I can't feel things any more So help me cast away the locks And lead me safely across the rocks Don't leave me broken on the rocks
6.
All the dark and the light All the warmth and the spite Our words haunt this room tonight and keep me awake All the seconds and the years All the laughter and the tears Now a dying flame disappears with a cold handshake All the night and the day All the work and the play Time heals all or so they say but what do they know? Apart and entwined Forever, in our minds Now all that is left behind are ghosts and shadows
7.
The time that is forever on my hands Seems to quickly pass me by A thousand thoughts are set upon collision course Fragment and echo through my mind The distant voices barely penetrate these walls Just whispers in a dream Outside, a painted smile, a mask of sanity These things are never what they seem And when it comes, sleep's a wonderous thing So precious and so rare But sleep is no escape from my anxiety For dreams are always there And in my dreams I climb the broken steps Of a staircase to the sky And every night I'm stranded halfway up While you all pass on by Open your eyes but not too wide There's only so much that you can fit inside Take a look far beyond these eyes And you may see me there Between the Earth and sky, reality and dream A place of hope and of despair And if you know the secret that unlocks the door Release me from this cell And lead me down the narrow, winding paths That I once knew so well
8.
I've been wandering around in my mind Searching for things that I'd hoped not to find Belief in One who has hurt and controlled Question this truth as it's always been told It seems something's left me now I've lost my fear of the dark somehow I asked but it was not given to me I sought, found nothing that I could see I knocked, when nobody answered the door I begged until I couldn't take any more I know that wiser men than me believe And still I cannot see I yearned eternity and a love that's so defined A dream to keep until the day I die But I've seen a golden shore of beauty unrefined And it was here beneath this endless sky I took a walk past the stones and the moss Inside the coloured light falls on the cross I caught a glimpse of my Lord and His might It was all just a trick of the light In here, fear and love once lived And now I've nothing left to give
9.
Home & Dry 00:44
The tortured tales of such despair The Sirens' songs that lead them there The locks, the chains, the wooden mast Are remnants of a lonely past You have saved a wayward soul And with a song above them all Unbind this tangled web we weave With a smile that helps me to believe
10.
Lucky Stars 05:54
Taurus child who wanted it all Asked too much and cried for his soul There became something deep inside of me A sadness that cut a path so wide Virgo child alone in her room Innocence extinguished too soon I can't forgive what this world has done to you But don't ever let it think it's won When darkness swarms your heart come back into the light Don't give in to the past tonight Luck is what we make and destiny will fail This world is ours to rule until our starlight pales Honest heart and troubled mind Always lost, always chasing time But time is forever running on And there's noting left after we're gone When all the dice are rolled and all the cards are seen There is always you and me Luck is what we make and destiny will fail This world is ours to rule until our starlight pales
11.
Now these streets lie empty and still, warmed in the early light The clear morning air breathes life into day All of the world is lost deep in dream, oblivious to the night That left me awake here where I lay But here I am before the dawn Tired and ready for sleep The darkness has now almost gone And with it the thoughts so deep The ticking clock that hangs on the wall counted the hours away I thought they might be my last here with you Now a crimson sky is painted across the world outside our door And gold vapour trails scar the rising blue I had to see this day begin And know that the night would end The sleepless fears so deep within Evaporate once again Now here you lie so close by my side and wrapped in my arms so tight And there's where you slept all of the while The hope and dreams that yesterday held seemed fragile in the night But now reborn within your peaceful smile Please don't wake just yet angel A beautiful day awaits The sunlight cast by Summer's spell Heals all it illuminates

credits

released March 19, 2010

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BLUE SUBURBiA
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Written and produced by Stuart Chalmers

Recorded at Woodworm Studios, Oxfordshire and at home between July 2006 and Feb 2009.

Woodworm Sessions engineered by Steve Hill.

Mixed by Steve Hill and Stuart Chalmers at Woodworm Studios.

Mastered by Andy Jackson at Tube Mastering.


TRAFFiC EXPERiMENT are:

Stuart Chalmers - guitars / vocals / keys / FX
Tom Vincent - drums / percussion
Simon James White - fretless and fretted bass guitars / backing vocals


FEATURiNG:

Harri Norris - vocals


ADDiTIONAL MUSiCiANS:

Jackie Baxter - cello
Rachel Hill - backing vocals
Paul Russell - backing vocals
Kevin Yu - violins


WiTH THANKS:

Blue Suburbia Album Trailer created by Richard Wakefield - www.fxmedia.co.uk
Once More (with feeling) video created by MINDistortion - www.mindistortion.tv
Band photography by Tessa Dixon-Chalmers

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Traffic Experiment Guildford, UK

Traffic Experiment are a progressive art rock band from the UK. They released their debut album Blue Suburbia in 2010. In 2011 the band released a reworking of the classic Doctor Who theme. A live Blu-ray (Traffic Experiment - Live [at the End of the World]) was released in 2013, with that difficult second album currently in production... ... more

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