Lil Silva - Yesterday Is Heavy (2022)

Over 10 years in the making, Yesterday Is Heavy is the cumulative product of an expansive career of collaborations and solo material, while finally acknowledging the spotlight with a fully-realized sound of his own. Silva's debut is about stepping outside of a comfort zone, and, outside of himself. It’s an album of heft and heart, but most of all hope – and trusting the process that led him to this point. Buoyed by the encouragement of long-time collaborators like Jamie Woon and Sampha early in his career (they both implored him to commit his own voice to record), and bolstered by experiences working alongside Mark Ronson, Adele and more, the Lil Silva story is now coming full circle. Created primarily in the town he grew up in (and continues to live now), the pervading solace of home courses through the project, while providing the thrilling moments of sleight of hand that Silva has always been capable of.

As he so often does, Lil Silva shares the spotlight with an astonishing cast of sonically-diverse guests. He fuses well-versed modern UK and European legends in the shape of Sampha, Ghetts, and Little Dragon with rising stars like serpentwithfeet, Charlotte Day Wilson and Montreal's Skiifall to thrilling effect, while maintaining his own deft dynamic throughout. The album has also been created with musical direction from Louis Vuitton musical director and BBC Radio 1 tastemaker Benji B, as well as creative direction from award winning visual artist BAFIC.

With Yesterday Is Heavy, Lil Silva reaps the rewards of over a decade of influence to create the debut album he’s always imagined. Simultaneously riding the line between pertinent storytelling and virtuosic production, Yesterday Is Heavy charts the story of one of UK music’s unsung heroes taking his time to build something that is truly timeless. Yesterday Is Heavy, but tomorrow is forever.