Luke-W Launches New Album ‘Yesterday, When Everything Was Temporary’ on 5 June

Alternative R&B artist Luke-W will launch his new fourteen-track album Yesterday, When Everything Was Temporary on Friday June 5, 2026 at Allpress Studios, Freemans Bay. The launch night runs as a listening party paired with six original artworks by Auckland mixed-media artist Dalskee, made in response to the record. The artworks will remain on display at Allpress for four weeks following the launch.

The full album will be available exclusively for purchase on Bandcamp from June 5, while the first single Casually will be released across all streaming platforms that same evening.

The album was written ten years after Luke-W left New Zealand for Bristol at 21, in the wake of losing his mother, aunt, grandfather and uncle within a four-year span. He moved into a converted malt house turned studio, shared plywood-walled rooms with other musicians, and spent the next stretch of his life chasing something he couldn’t yet name. Yesterday, When Everything Was Temporary is a letter back to that version of himself.

The sonic world was built with producer Andrew Meyer, who features on every track but one. The production is cinematic and synth-driven, but the centre of gravity is the storytelling. The emotional register is one Luke-W has described as “blissful melancholy. Having all of the feeling of nostalgia and loss, but kind of basking in it, because you know it’s a feeling you want to feel.”

Dalskee’s six artworks extend the world of the record into a physical space. The intention is for visitors to leave with something they didn’t arrive with.

“I want people to feel like they went into the world and explored it, and found out something about themselves,” Luke-W says. “Something that reflects back onto them and lets them process something they’d been carrying.”

Yesterday, When Everything Was Temporary is for people going through that not again feeling. A breakup, a relocation, a loss, some change that’s made them reassess what they’re doing. Music for the wheel still turning.

Launch Night: Friday June 5, 2026 Allpress Studios, 8 Drake Street, Freemans Bay, Auckland 6pm-9pm Link: Launch Night Tickets

Exhibition: Six original artworks by Dalskee, made in response to Yesterday, When Everything Was Temporary. On display at Allpress Studios from June 5 through July 3, M-F, 7:00a.m-2:30p.m.

Album: Yesterday, When Everything Was Temporary. Fourteen tracks. Available exclusively on Bandcamp from Friday June 5, 2026. Produced by Andrew Meyer & Luke-W. First single – Casually – live on all streaming platforms that same day.