So, I mentioned Youth Lagoon’s The Year Of Hibernation in my post of the best releases of last week, and, with the exception of the phenomenal new Wilco Record, this has been on the heaviest rotation around here. I can’t even really get a feel for one particular tag? Lo-fi? dream pop? Jonsi singing for a muted down Wu Lyf? listening to Cults playing down a long hallway while on acid? Kurt Vile happy? It could be all of those things smashed together, I guess.
I normally write up my own takes on artists, but, in this case, I just want you to listen. If you need it though scroll down, click play, and then read this little write up about Youth Lagoon’s Trevor Powers from his Fat Possum label.
Twenty-two year old Trevor Powers, whose musical venture is called Youth Lagoon, has had a long year. Not because he’s been endlessly touring or pursuing some wild dream, but because of life – the life of a kid going to college, being in love, dealing with heartache, and just living.
“Youth Lagoon isn’t me.” says Powers. “It’s merely a part of me. I was in and out of different bands in high school and always tried to define myself by what music I played. I tried to find a sense of meaning by being in a band. But it wasn’t until this last year – when I realized I was more than just music – that I was able to create music that means something to me. And that is Youth Lagoon.”
Throughout the course of 2010, Powers began to write an album about things he had a hard time talking about. He claims that when he tries to talk about it to people, he doesn’t make sense. So he wrote an album about it titled The Year of Hibernation.
“For my whole life I’ve dealt with extreme anxiety.” says Powers. “Not anxiety about passing a test or somewhat normal things, but weird.. bizarre things. Things that only I know. I sometimes feel like I’m literally being eaten up inside. So I started writing these songs. Not just songs about my anxiety, but about my past and my present. Songs about memories, and all those feelings that those bring. I know that if I can be honest about what is inside my mind, there will be others that will be able to relate to it.”
Although his music seems somewhat dreamy with the first listen, the lyrics show a different side to the matter. Hidden beneath the melodies is a voice that is eerie yet nostalgic. Powers claims his music is like letting people read his journal. “I don’t think I could ever write a completely happy album. It’s not that I’m not a happy person,” claims Powers, “but I just have too many things in my mind that haunt me.”
I know that Pitchfork gave it a hipster-rific ‘best new music’ tag with an 8.4 rating, but I wanted to give you a listen to the record so you could tell me what you think. There is a player with every track from the debut LP except one. Let me know if you like it..
There are no plans for a stop in Nashville right now, but I will let you know if I hear of one.
[gigya src="http://grooveshark.com/widget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="250" height="250" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&playlistID=60932601&bbg=000000&bth=000000&pfg=000000&lfg=000000&bt=ffffff&pbg=ffffff&pfgh=ffffff&si=ffffff&lbg=ffffff&lfgh=ffffff&sb=ffffff&bfg=666666&pbgh=666666&lbgh=666666&sbh=666666&p=0" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="window"]