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Project 17

by Dan Kempster

supported by
Tom Mayhew
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Tom Mayhew One man provides the guitar, drums, piano and vocals, as well as beautifully writing it all himself, and on a shoe-string budget. Brilliant album. Favorite track: Exeter.
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    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.

    Included in the download is a sixteen-page album liner in PDF format, containing full lyrics and an explanation of the album's concept.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    A physical CD release of the album Project 17. Comes in a digipack case with printed album and disc art. This first edition is limited to a run of just fifty copies.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Project 17 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
*Instrumental*
2.
I had it pretty rough in the back end of '06 A year of breaking up and breaking down But granted one more year, my head began to clear And my feet at last made contact with the ground I built a new life With all this insight No need to take my cues from you With everything in ashes, like a phoenix born anew I gaffer-taped a broken heart, I mended and made do Kept telling myself good things were just around the bend And now when I look back at then I wish I could be seventeen again In need of a new focus, I picked up a set of darts And started working to a whole new dream Every Tuesday night, I'd pack my stems and flights And throw to represent my local team I built a new life On all those late nights And counting back from five-oh-one The smell of smoke and taste of beer, I never could forget Nor the eccentricities of characters I met Those nights felt so perfect and they never seemed to end And now when I look back at then I wish I could be seventeen again When Joe brought his guitar to school and said 'let's form a band' I instantly agreed to learn the drums We found ourselves a space, enlisted Jash on bass And wrote a bunch of really rocking songs I built a new life Keeping that band tight And letting loose a 'crash-boom-bang' We may have just been kids, but we were kids living the dream With vision and ambition and our youth to keep us keen Treading that fine line between what's real and pretend And now when I look back at then I wish I could be seventeen again I built that old life Time took it out of sight And left behind this almost right But not quite Replica These days all those things are lost, with nothing more to gain Though I've still got darts and drums, nothing feels the same What makes a moment special is the time, the place, the friends I'll always look back at then And wish I could be seventeen again
3.
We started out as a small-time band Thrashing out chords on a cheap guitar With nothing more than a few songs planned We had our sights set firmly on the stars Our first attempt distilled ambition Into an Archive's Remnant parts We gigged and wrote, self-styled musicians That's where the down-turn of this story starts We got into this with the music in mind And a vision to keep us on track But circumstances conspired against us And painted that vision black Locked on a crash course We continued on blindly Resigning ourselves to our fate We felt the full force Of our reckless abandon But we left our atonement too late We suffered hard times And then acted surprised When we dared our ambition to die No escape this time As we wrecked on the rocks Lured by the siren's cry Our new plans hit adversity As our commitments clashed with choice Southampton University Claimed our guitarist and musical voice Absence made things complicated A singer still eluded us Undinal Songs disintegrated The start of our indefinite hiatus We got into this with the music in mind And a vision to keep us on track But circumstances conspired against us And painted that vision black Locked on a crash course We continued on blindly Resigning ourselves to our fate We felt the full force Of our reckless abandon But we left our atonement too late We suffered hard times And then acted surprised When we dared our ambition to die No escape this time As we wrecked on the rocks Lured by the siren's cry
4.
Shipped off to University in September of '08 Already I'd begun to think I'd made a huge mistake I found myself surrounded by drunks and drugs and worse Good thing the girl from three doors down was who I spoke to first Stranded in that unfamiliar town I made a pact with the girl who lived three doors down I knew that things would happen the moment she decreed The only Who song that she knew was 'Love, Reign O'er Me' We stayed up all night talking, she leaned in for a kiss My naive mind misread the signs, I thought my chance was missed My head was reeling, spinning round and round I'd fallen in love with the girl who lived three doors down With her auburn hair and bright blue eyes She was equipped to draw me in To a battle between two lovestruck hearts That I was never going to win Another guy cross-campus appeared upon the scene Two polar opposites, two men that she was torn between She finally made her choice upon a dark November night When she took me by the hand and slowly led me out of sight Kings of Leon were playing in the background When I first made love to the girl who lived three doors down With her auburn hair and bright blue eyes She was equipped to draw me in To a battle between two lovestruck hearts That I was never going to win The autumn term was over, Christmas came and went She waited until January to make clear her intent We sat and talked and both agreed to put aside what's passed And stepped into 2009, hand in hand at last I felt so high, I was walking on a cloud I'd ended up with the girl who lived three doors down
5.
Process 01:39
I'm not dancing through a fire I'm not trying to catch a flame I'm not looking for something higher I'm just glad to know your name I'm not trying to lose me to find you I'm not seeking out a key I'm just doing my best to remind you That you mean the world to me And everything I know was taught to me By St Peter and St Paul How to take emotions and lay them bare To captivate and enthrall To understand the way I'm feeling And force my heart down into my hands To show you that I love you
6.
Annexed 02:15
*Instrumental*
7.
I spend my mornings tangled up in orange wire Then pass the afternoons doing my best to recover Light on, light off Another early morning Sign on, sign off Another weekend lost Switch on, switch off Another floor is spotless But to what end, and at what cost? And when I come back tomorrow It'll be as if I did nothing at all today I'll have to do it all again And when I come back the next day It'll be the same as it was the day before And it'll make me wonder If all this is worth getting tangled up in orange for I abuse my body just to bring home pocket change Squander my earnings in a bid to keep myself sane Plug in, plug out Machine's hypnotic whirring Tune in, tune out Monotony distilled All in, all out My life is not my own now Surrendered to my nature's will And when I come back tomorrow It'll be as if I did nothing at all today I'll have to do it all again And when I come back the next day It'll be the same as it was the day before And it'll make me wonder If all this is worth getting tangled up in orange for There is nothing Self-affirming In clearing up your shit...
8.
Lady writer, let me step inside your head Stimulate my mind with all the things I never seem to get at home I'll buy the coffee, you tell the tales you've spun Eloquently rolling off your sweet Norwegian tongue You name the time and place, I'll make sure not to miss this rendez-vous Because I am dying for an intellectual affair with you My girlfriend's everything a man like me could want But she'll never understand what it's like to go through writer's block She's suspicious that there's something going on But if we only meet to talk, then how can this be wrong? If it's nothing physical then why does this arrangement feel taboo? Is it because I'm dying for an intellectual affair with you? Lock away my good sense, bury it at sea Torture me with pure poetic prose until I hope to lose the key Lady writer, you're a muse made manifest But if I try to use the muse, my home life could be wrecked This could get messy, so I'm going have to stop and think it through And subdue my desire for an intellectual affair with you
9.
Smoulder 05:07
The fuse is lit In yet another one of our twisted games The sky turns red As two young hearts go up in flames You say I did I swear I didn't but I've got no proof I sense your doubt Refusing to believe I speak the truth Right down to the wire We've lost all our fire We're spiralling out of control We'll do what we've always done and let the problem smoulder Put it on the backburner 'til it gets out of hand I've lost all the fight I had and you've grown even colder Burned away and stretched so thin I don't know where I stand The embers glow A hand comes out of nowhere, strikes my face I know that I Can't stay another minute in this place I say that's it My fingers touch the handle of the door You scream goodbye I don't know how to feel any more Right down to the wire We've lost all our fire We're spiralling out of control We'll do what we've always done and let the problem smoulder Put it on the backburner 'til it gets out of hand I've lost all the fight I had and you've grown even colder Burned away and stretched so thin I don't know where I stand any more
10.
Exeter 04:27
Early morning sun parts the curtains Light descending onto your face You sleep soundly beneath your halo An image of perfection in this unfamiliar place I lie beside you in the half-light And gently place a kiss on your cheek I watch you sleeping in pure serenity Your breath betraying feelings I know you could never speak This south-western autumn air Is playing havoc with my mind My judgement's clouded by the mists upon the lakeside Am I seeing what's not there Inventing phantom threats to fight Or am I simply growing blind to what you need? This stolen kiss breaks the hold of slumber And rewards me with your open eyes You speak to me in intimate whispers Though we're disconnected in a way they can't disguise Our fingers interlock by lovers' instinct As you guide my hand across your skin I sense reluctance in your touch and motion But I put my doubts aside as I let you draw me in Was it lovestruck oversight When we both promised to commit As rain anointed us, two lovers at the lakeside Rings we exchanged on that night Have now grown loose and cease to fit Just as your patience has outgrown my selfishness Which is why I'm feeling lonely in Exeter On this cold October day Because although I'm here lying next to you I couldn't feel further away Can't help but feel I'm seeing the best of you As you start to see the worst in me So I lie here feeling lonely in Exeter Where nothing seems to fit But we wear it imperfectly
11.
*Instrumental*
12.
Open your eyes, look into mine Focus and let yourself lose track of time Dwelling on all of the memories made by us two Taste of your kiss, scent of your hair Seeing a smile that I know isn't there Something keeps telling me as I sit here missing you You could be missing me too Living the way that I do From one day to the next with nothing but hope to cling to Hoping you're missing me too You were the fire that took hold so fast Turned me to wicker, held flames to my heart Never relenting as you tried to tighten the screw Those days are gone, time's moving on I search for truths in the words of a song While you feign happiness hiding behind someone new But I know you're missing me too Hard to confess to what's true Carry on honey but it's not that hard to see through I see you're missing me too If you were missing me too You'd take back all you put me through So cut out this cancer and exchange these black skies for blue Tell me you're missing me too

about

Project 17 is my debut solo album. Written through 2012 and recorded in late 2013, it's a twelve-track concept album inspired by the events of my life between 2006 and 2011. In a hugely ambitious move for me, I wrote, played and recorded everything you hear on this album. It's a huge personal accomplishment, and I'm very excited to share it with you all.

There's no set price for Project 17. You can download it for free if you want, or you can choose to pay however much you think the album is worth. A limited run of physical CD copies of the album is now also available, and can be purchased for a minimum sum of £5 plus P+P while stocks last.

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released December 16, 2013

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Dan Kempster Tring, UK

I'm a writer based in the town of Tring, United Kingdom. When I'm not writing fiction or playing drums with the rock covers band Sudden Gunfire, I like to pretend I can play guitar and write songs.

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