Youth Lagoon is the creation of American songwriter and instrumentalist Trevor Powers. The works of the artist feature songs of the indie and lo-fi genres with ambient and dream pop influences. Youth Lagoon has been rising in the charts, reaching the number one spot on last.fm’s Best of 2011 New Discoveries artists, which is rare for artists of the electronic genre.
Youth Lagoon’s debut album, The Year of Hibernation was released on September 27, 2011. It features eight tracks along with two bonus tracks, totaling in about 40 minutes of quality music. The Year of Hibernation is not one of those albums with a few decent songs. Every single song on the album, including the two bonus tracks, is worth listening to. It boasts a spot on Pitchfork’s Top 50 Albums of the 2011 list, and for good reason.
The album features a uniform style in songs. Each song opens with a soft, lo-fi voice and light instrumentals, often the synth. Halfway through, the track transitions to a hearty drum beat with syncopated kicks. Together, these elements provide movement and direction. The upbeat nature of all the tracks is echoed throughout the album. While one may think that its repetitive nature may get redundant, the case is quite the contrary. Its consistency contributes to the beauty of the music.
As an electronic, lo-fi album, The Year of Hibernation displays a wide variety of instrumentation. In particular, the bonus track “Ghost to Me” covers the full range. It opens with a soft piano and an ambient voice. Later, the electronic string pluck joins in for a short interlude. After, the kick and percussion rhythms come in along with a post-rock guitar. The pit and vibe sound reverberates throughout the piece. After 2 minutes of vocal-accompanied parts, the song enters into a slow buildup of drum, piano, and other percussion lines. “Ghost of Me” ends with only a melodic line of a music box pluck.
Youth Lagoon is an artist worth listening to. With all tracks as moving as “Ghost of Me”, the album truly deserves all the positive reviews it receives.
