Album Review: Yesterday, When Everything Was Temporary

In the opening song Caught In A Blaze, Luke-W states that Yesterday, When Everything Was Temporary is the culmination of ten years of lived experience, and that’s exactly what this record feels like. Memoirs sent to past selves and lessons learned through time take the listener on a head-nodding, windows-down drive. This ride starts with a 21 year old Luke-W moving to Bristol and depicts a life that contains mistakes, but more importantly, the freedom to make them. 

Album opener Caught In A Blaze introduces us to this journey of growth with the sound of birds chirping over some gentle, almost heavenly textured synths. Luke-W describes “The verse is a letter from who I am now to who I was then”. This was stated through the album’s accompanying exhibition created in collaboration with mixed media artist Dalskee. This song, and to an extent this album, feels like an introspective moment to chat, and reminisce with a past self. Luke-W reflects further on how the “urge to run starts before you’ve worked out where to”. This is matched nicely with the beat, which after a slow build opening introduces some bass and kick drums that make the listener feel like their feet are flying too. The yearning yet reflective tone of this song sets up nicely for an album that centers around “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”. 

Next up One Way Street gives us one of the beefier beats on the album thanks to an undulating distorted bass that drives the song and kicks off the journey well and truly. Lyrics like “I got things I wanna be, you just wanna be free” demonstrate themes of movement, sometimes with, sometimes away from others. These seem to be core tenets of the album which is self-described as for people going through “A breakup, a relocation, a loss, some change that’s made them reassess what they’re doing”. Either way, this track provides a power that goes both through, and around these people and situations.

Vivid Dreams comes next, living up to its name with a dreamy, at times mumbled roll off the tongue delivery. This song channels Drake’s more atmospheric side. Smooth synths and cool vocal delivery feel like sipping wine by an open fire. This energy is further explored in the album’s lead single Casually which starts with a similar soundscape but thanks to some stop-start groove based drums creates something more poppy and danceable. This song is about the art (or lack of) in modern situationships with Luke-W stating, “You can’t expect commitment when you refuse to give yourself fully”. It feels like a painful moment of realisation that what’s temporary can’t last forever. Still, the smooth Reese bass and crisp drumbeat, courtesy of producer Andrew Meyer make for a danceable song that might just keep those worries at bay.

Party Alone continues this theme instead detailing the exploits of someone living a lifestyle built around fun over commitment. Luke-W describes it as “Written from second-hand stories about an ex – someone broken in ways that mirrored mine. Caught between euphoria and isolation”. This song does a good job of exhibiting these two states, describing party scenes but from an outside perspective which creates an isolated, watching from a distance or waiting up type feeling. 

Distance refreshes us with “A text to a summer love. Sent over messenger years later, just to say you’ve been missed”. The bouncy, plucked bassline does a great job sounding natural while marrying in a rolling, more electronic sound that brings the best of the 80’s and the 20’s. If this album is a journey this song feels like cruising pace. Like other points in the album, at times the lyrical delivery can be mumbled and hard to discern. While this is a shame for such a story driven album it also portrays an emotional ambivalence that helps the listener feel, as well as hear. This leads naturally into the self‑described ‘turning point of the record’, Other Lives. This song comes with a longing tone of acceptance and the realisation you can’t outrun what you’ve lost. Luke-W’s deep and soulful vocal delivery comes in strong for this one, powering through notes with the mana of a true R&B vocalist. This feels like “music for the wheel still turning”. 

Wake Up (Again?) contains an almost slow drum and bass beat invoking the feeling of true movement. If this album is a drive along, this feels like the destination is within reach. The song details “nights on repeat” which describe a human closeness that, while not involving sleep, seems a bit healthier and whole than past experiences on the album. This is accompanied by Divine Intervention, an interlude of sorts that tells us, “escape is not victory” and “certain disciplines can only be learnt by remaining where you are called”. Closely followed by Let It Burn, which really feels like a moment of acceptance. Lines like “you and I were made for each other” suggest healthier connections and create a feeling that this journey hasn’t been for nothing. This album was made for “the people going through that not again feeling” and this feels like the moment that proves all the lessons are worthwhile. Luke-W reinforces this by describing the song as “the origin story of the love of my life. The certainty that what we’d just found made everything before it make sense.” The vocal delivery sounds confident and victorious, even the beat sits in a happy, more pop aligned domain. This leads nicely into When I’m There and Home which start to feel like we’ve finally arrived home after our adventure. “You ain’t seen home, no not like this” is cried out over some spacy pads with a stable authenticity that contrasts the exploits and lessons of the album’s first half.

Finally, the album finishes with Don’t Wait which conceptually feels like the most well rounded song of the album. It has a slower beat that doesn’t rush to build itself and creates the idea that Luke-W, alongside the listener has done the same. As the beat does build itself we’re treated to a staple on this album which is clear and crisp production. Many songs on this album have a unique, live sounding grooveable rhythms and while this one is a steadier number the deep kick drum provides a comfortable persistence to end the album. 

Overall this album achieves its goal of setting out to tell a story. While this tale is personal to the artist I think everyone could see a bit of themselves at points throughout this fourteen track experience. The drawn out, melodic vocal delivery provides a swagger that keeps heads nodding and the beats provide a rhythm that keeps feet moving. Whether you want a tale of growth and discovery or a cathartic and cinematic listening experience Yesterday, When Everything Was Temporary provides a smooth solution to both.