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The Greatest Show On Earth

by Kontiki Suite

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Limited run of beautiful digipacks with booklet insert containing lyrics. Designed by Luke Insect.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Greatest Show On Earth via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
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  • Limited Edition Gatefold Vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Sunstone Records are proud to present a limited vinyl press of the second album ‘The Greatest Show on Earth‘ by our favourite, North Lakes troubadours Kontiki Suite.

    After initially approaching the band as fans this is the realisation of something incredibly special - their 2012 debut ‘On Sunset Lake’ was and still is a favourite and to be involved in the follow up is a majestic feeling – musically and lyrically it feels like a follow up to the debut with
    added colour and swagger: think Byrds / Emitt Rhodes / Brewer and Shipley / Beachwood Sparks / Teenage Fanclub

    The LP will be housed in a wonderful Luke Insect designed gatefold with a free digital download. This is the sound of deep Northern England and the bands love of melody, harmony, country rock and psychedelia takes us to the next level of their trip.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Greatest Show On Earth via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.
Can't sleep tonight Too much for my eyes and ears From the night before Had a front row seat To the greatest show on earth I've been here before 'Cause all that we need is around We were racing against time But it was close across the line Call it a draw From me to you, I love you too My empire of good fortune grows All down to you 'Cause all that we need is around There's nothing you can say to bring us down 'Cause all that we need is around They're never gonna bring our empire down A sight you can't get tired of The beautiful adventure Can I take you there Take my hand, come with me See the sun rise up completely Breathe that country air 'Cause all that we need is around There's nothing you can say to bring us down 'Cause all that we need is around They're never gonna bring our empire down Please don't save me 'cause Who'll watch over me then If you think I'm saved you might move on from here Failed to remember but I did not forget The smoke was rising from those embers Those years ago When I first met you You stole my soul
2.
It's all doom and gloom At least that's what I'm told So clear out the room The party's over now I'm trying to get out Out of my own little world And we're all strung out Out in this whole wide world And the system's burning down While the world is turning round and round Where'd it go wrong? All the money is gone It's all gone What more can I say? Our future's blown away As we slide down this road While others hang on to their thrones I'm trying to get out Out of my own little world And we're all strung out Out in this whole wide world And the system's burning down While the world is turning round and round Where'd it go wrong? All the money is gone It's all gone
3.
Maybe one day I will run away From everything that I know And when I come back I will sit right here and write a song 'bout it all It’d be bittersweet And it would be nice to pass the time Now's the time I could pass But you can't claim it back Maybe one day I will hide away From all the songs in my head In the silence of night I'll be free from all the melody and the rhyme I'll be free from the sound And it would be nice to pass the time Now's the time I could pass But you can't claim it back And all I do is listen out All alone on the road I shout 'Cause the sound is all it's about And my days fill with doubt
4.
Many times I'd hit the wall And I couldn't go on anymore But you helped me out Now I'm here for you now Here for you now If you want I've been down on the tracks And I couldn't get up off my back But you helped me up Now I'm here for you now Here for you now If you want? What else could I do Than pay my debt right back to you? Many times I stood up tall But from up there it was a hell of a fall But you picked me up Now I'm here for you now Here for you now If you want? What else could I do Than pay my debt right back to you? Don't ever doubt, I'll be there Helping you out when you're down In the darkest of nights I'll be there for you I've been lost along the way And I spiralled out to another day But you dragged me back Now I'm here for you now I’m here for you now If you want? What else could I do Than pay my debt right back to you?
5.
And I never worried for your soul But I just can't take this anymore You sweep it all under the rug And there ain't nothing left when you're done ‘Cause I’ve never known anyone like you You keep doing things I don't need you to do You sweep it all under the rug And there ain't nothing left when you're done And all those gamblers and cheats They've got nothing on you You crawl out the woodwork And you make everyone blue You’re swimming in waters far too deep You sweep it all under the rug And there ain’t nothing left when you're done And all those gamblers and cheats They've got nothing on you You crawl out the woodwork And you make everyone blue You’re swimming in waters far too deep
6.
I turn the pages of my mind I’m searching for something that I can’t find I stand alone in the crowd Staring at my feet And I don't make any sound And all my senses are telling me to leave But I know, but it all comes back again And I try too hard to be what I ain't And I know this but it all comes back again ‘Cause I could live for one hundred more years And never find those pages in my mind I don't wanna burn any bridges And I try not to But no one's ever listening And the second that I found that out Then I knew And it all comes back again All my problems have an answer The trouble is I don’t know where I'd find such a thing And as I stumble through solutions I'm searching for a revolution And I don't know if I'm playing out of time But I'm sure you'll let me know And I try too hard to be what I ain't And I know this But it all comes back again ‘Cause I could live for one hundred more years And never find those pages in my mind I don't wanna burn any bridges And I try not to But no one's ever listening 'Cause I could stand at the top of a hill looking out And I won't see anything ‘Cause I could live for one hundred more years And never find those pages in my mind
7.
She says she loves me She tells me all the time I don't know why Hasn't she seen me lately To know what state I'm in I no longer feel fine It's getting pretty hard to keep Up with my old self Hear me plead I never want to leave here again Demons are waiting for me To take my soul away Past sins they haunt me Stitching’s coming loose From reality See my reflection It's been there all along I just would not see I'll never be the same again This is for my crimes I'm guilty of them My knees are creaking, back aches again Refocus my dreaming Take that carpet ride, amen She's all that I've been missing All that I've been dreaming of is her She's all that I've been missing All that I've been thinking of is her But they'll find She's all that I'm hanging onto She's all that I've been missing All that I've been dreaming of is her She says she loves me She says she loves me
8.
All I can say is I'm feeling let down And I can't believe how it hurts One fine day I was on a crest of a wave Oh man I must be cursed And I don’t need someone hanging 'round ‘Cause I just need something that makes me proud All I can say is my pride's in the way And I know a fall is coming 'Cause rose tint nostalgia is all that I have I can't keep up for running I don't need someone hanging 'round And I just need something that makes me proud And all I can say is wasting away in my head Words can't be said And all that I know will remain unknown 'til it's said And it leaves my head It leaves my head I don't need someone hanging 'round And I just need something that makes me proud And all I can say is wasting away in my head Words can't be said And all that I know will remain unknown 'til it's said And it leaves my head It leaves my head
9.
Burned 08:16
And I’ve got you under my skin How’d you get in? And I’d never have known 'Til you made it your home And moved right in Now I can't escape this haze Spaced out in a daze My blood it boils, a hundred degrees And I'm begging you please To cut me loose Down from your noose And give your final salute Now I can't escape this haze Spaced out in a daze There were times I got burned in the fire Scorched my soul in the heat of desire There were times I got burned in the fire Scorched my soul in the heat of desire The room it shakes, it rattle and rolls It rattle and rolls to the beat of your drum And then it goes boom like a gun Boom like a gun, now I’ve nowhere to run Nowhere to run, and no time to run There’s no time to run and I can't I can't escape this haze Spaced out in a daze
10.
I heard the news today A friend of mine she ran away to be someone She wanted to be a star But I'm not that kind I'll keep dreaming of the things I could have Should haves don't spring to mind As the years roll on My feet get stuck in the mud But rock’n'roll it stays in my blood When the Sunday summer sun Shines right through my window Well I think of you And wonder where you are Even though I'm glad for you Jealousy it eats away from out the blue And not much else remains As the years roll on My feet get stuck in the mud But rock’n'roll it stays in my blood And I’ll write a song that no one will hear All my blood, sweat and my tears And how I might be broken None of it matters anyway Not a single word that I say I'm the book you haven't opened As the years roll on My feet get stuck in the mud And all I've learned ain't done me good There's not much left for me So I'll keep playing all those little melodies And dream of might have beens As the years roll on My feet get stuck in the mud But rock 'n' roll stays in my blood

about

"Three years on from their debut, On Sunset Lake, Kontiki Suite return with another immaculately crafted album of shimmering songs, blending country-rock with their brand of Cosmic Cumbrian Music

They've kept some of the Laurel Canyon campfire vibe ("Pages Of My Mind") but they're more muscular this time as they head into the city to flex their chops. 'Free From Sound' and 'All I Can Say' jangle and slide with sharpness and precision, whilst epic, cloud-bursting 'Burned' adds extra thrills to the trip. 'Under The Rug' mixes it all, opening delicately with lap steel and finger-picking until accelerating with quicksilver lead guitar out of the country, onto the Fillmore stage, soaring stratospherically into the stars, before floating back down to earth.

Closer 'Years Roll On' is achingly beautiful, "I'll write a song that no one will hear", tenderly suggests Benjamin Singh. Do yourself a favour and prove him wrong." ****

Shindig! Magazine December 2015.

credits

released October 2, 2015

All tracks written by Benjamin Singh except Bring Our Empire Down and Keep Up With My Old Self written by Jonny Singh and Burned by Benjamin Singh and Marcus Dodds.

Produced by Jonny Singh for Lonesome Blue Jay Productions, UK. Recorded at The Kontiki Rooms and and Blue Jay Studios, Carlisle, UK. Mixed at Blue Jay Studios, Carlisle, UK. Mastered by Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering, Boston, MA, USA.

Chris Brown: Drums
Marcus Dodds: 6 string electric guitars
Mario Renucci: Bass guitar
Benjamin Singh: Lead and backing vocals, 6/12 string acoustic and electric guitars, organ, mellotron, harmonica.
Jonny Singh: Backing vocals, lead vocals on Keep Up With My Old Self, lap steel guitar, 6/12 string electric guitars, organ, mellotron.
Craig Bright: Percussion

Artwork and design by Luke Insect • www.lukeinsect.com

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Kontiki Suite Carlisle, UK

Kontiki Suite hail from the isolated outskirts of the Lake District in England's “Deep North”.

13-track debut album On Sunset Lake furthers their rampant collective love of melody and harmony via psychedelia and country-rock.

Follow-up 2015 album The Greatest Show On Earth sees the band taking their art onto the next level. If you liked On Sunset Lake, you're sure to love the new album.
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