There is something profoundly human in the sense that the Past is never really past. On "Poems from the Past," Ryan Stayes has a 16-track indie-alternative collection centered on recollections, growing older, family, love, regret, and the memories that quietly shape an individual. The album, clocking in at 49 minutes and 40 seconds, is cinematic and intimate, built around storytelling and guided by emotional honesty.
From "All My Days" and "Backyard Basements" to "Figure 8s," "She Thinks" and "See You Soon," Stayes crafts a world where everyday places, relationships, and fleeting moments resonate with lasting emotional impact. "Barely Listening" and "Clocks Tick, Time Tells" naturally deepen the album's meditation on time, and "Floor Boards" and "Life Happens Here" suggest how physical spaces can become vessels for memory.
The reflective thread continues through "Mirrors," "Ms. Quinn," and "SD, SB, SEA," before the album turns to more contemporary observations with "Screen Time." "Morning Sunshine Screams," "Morgan, Now," and "Ollie Funk" complete a tracklist that feels intimate while retaining its broader appeal.
Stayes wrote all the lyrics and drew the stories behind each song from his own life experiences. "Poems from the Past" avoids easy sentimentality in favor of a more complicated take on memory: beautiful, uncomfortable, imperfect, and formative. This is an album for those who like heartfelt songwriting, cinematic emotion, and stories that feel lived in, not manufactured. Ryan Stayes builds a contemplative musical archive, one in which looking back becomes a way of knowing who we are now.
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