The Year Of Hibernation is an apt title for the debut album from Youth Lagoon, 22 year old Trevor Powers. His voice rises, seemingly from the depth of some cavernous chamber where he has just been woken, his dreams and half memories of previous consciousness now narrated to us with a mixture of resignation and anticipation. The sound of the bedroom producer is one that is now familiar (could I even be so bold as to predict it may one day be looked back upon as fondly as 60s garage is now seen?) and Youth Lagoon certainly follows many of its familiar traits. Lashings of reverb, single finger keyboard melodies, tentative guitar plucking, the sly warmth of subtle tape/white noise hiss, hand percussion and electronic beats are all present. As he mentions in ’17’, “But it’s just me in my room, with my eyes shut”. Yet Powers is able to lift the whole to a level beyond his bedroom peers. I’ve been listening for a while now and I still can’t really pin down quite why or how, but the album is certainly one that transcends its own pigeonholes.
The songwriting probably has a large deal to do with it. Powers finds memorable melodies with ease and subtly drills them in to your subconscious. In many tracks the big hooks come in wordless chorals. Arrangements are consistent, but with enough surprises to hold interest. He often builds to a relatively grand crescendo but avoids gratuity. Only ‘Montana’ towards album’s end really heads for a euphoric finale and the contrast with the general restraint kept until this point gives it even greater impact. The lyrical depth also helps (even if a 22 year waxing nostalgic for the age of 17 sounds a slight stretch). The searching for identity of youth is key and is expressed with strains of fondness for family and childhood. And Powers’ actual voice is the central focus throughout. Unerringly human, his is not a trained croon but, where many bedroom productions fall down on the unintentional amateurishness of the singing, Powers’ croak is assured and confident, even as it conjours moods of uncertainty and sleepiness. Sitting somewhere between The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and Beach House’s Victoria Legrand, it holds centre stage, tying all the loose sonic strands together.
The Year Of Hibernation is a great album. Restrained and humble, it none-the-less unravels layers of depth. Pop songs of confident assuredness with the perfect mix of melancholia, yearning and uplifting hope in both form and content. Powers will be in Australia over the coming summer and, if his live show can capture the feeling of this album, I am certain it will be one well worth seeing.
Adrian Elmer
