This was the moment we thought he’d make it big, me and my trading-yesterday-friends.

The single didn’t really go anywhere. No bigger record deals, no full-length albums. We thought it would. We hoped it would.

But he’s been really, very, very busy with writing for others, recording on his own, and even doing some covers.

Here are some songs, in no particular (or even chronological) order…

Originals

The Age of Information

Trading Yesterday had become The Age of Information.

It was good. A departure from previous style, but still hauntingly beautiful, powerful, and moving. Different style, similar vibes.

Arrows to Athens

Spiritual successor to The Age of Information. I remember being hyped about this, with all my forum-friends, but I remember it being a bit bittersweet for some reason.

Avox

If you liked Daft Punk’s (RIP) Tron Legacy soundtrack, you’ll love this electro-instrumental masterpiece of an album.

Himself

The December Sessions

He released multiple self-published albums under his own name, mostly acoustic versions of songs he wrote; some originals, some leftovers for others, and some covers of previous songs.

The first of the five albums was a genuine surprise for all of us: We weren’t expecting it, and it just showed up. It was also the most beautiful, the most Trading Yesterday-y album of them all.

You can also hear [Ryan](/post/sleeping-at-last/) singing on that last one. ## In The Round In this album series, he does acoustic renditions of popular songs he helped write for artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Christina Perri, Jason Mraz, Avril Lavigne, and others.

Covers

Passengers: Weapons

Just like my blog here, I guess, David wanted to pay tribute to songs that were important to him. Because he had much more talent, though, he was able to actually do more about it.

We knew that he was working on it for some time. It’s one of the most original cover projects I’ve ever heard.

His pure voice coming through in the intro, without any effects, sounding almost like an acoustic song, and very much clashing with the electronic vibe of the melodies _and_ in contrast with all the songs that precede it on the album... Chills, literal chills. ## Passengers: Sirens This one came later, as a tribute to female singers. The style is the more muted acoustic one, but it still manages to elevate and appreciate the originals.

Songwriting / Producing / Collabs

Evanescence

Origin, and Fallen, and many unreleased/late-released songs. Here’s an acoustic rendition of My Immortal by David, and a bit of a story.

Christina Perri

That background vocal in the bridge? That’s David. They wrote it together.

Later a version of this song replaced David’s vocals with Jason Mraz. I love Mraz, but I’m still angry about it.

Avril Lavigne

Beautiful cover of a Nickelback song. Produced by David. And yeah, that bgv, that’s him again.

Fun fact: There was a brief moment in time when David had a facebook account, we were friends there (along with all the others on the forum as well) and I posted the song with a note saying how hearing his voice surprised me. He commented back with a funny comment, but I can’t remember what it said, and I can’t seem to find a screenshot of the comment either.

Armin van Buuren

Not trance, not pop. Good collab.

…and many more

He has written for and with many, many more artists. He recently started posting album covers on his Instagram, and it gives me joy every time I am reminded of a nice old album, or find out that a song I’ve been enjoying actually had his touch on it.

David Hodges