New album illustrates maturation

Don’t stop imagining / the day that you do is the day that you die, advises Youth Lagoon front man Trevor Powers, on a track called “Seventeen,” off his debut LP, The Year of Hibernation. The album’s personal lyrical content provokes nostalgia and reflections on life. But if the lyrics are introverted, this 22-year-old’s imaginative musical experience is without reservations.

Powers recorded The Year of Hibernation while attending Boise State, with the help of friend and guitarist Logan Hyde. The two have plans to play 29 shows throughout the United States.

With the surrounding buzz and a two-record deal with Fat Possum Records, Powers dropped out of school to pursue music full time and as a result, the band has since garnered acclaim in the music world.

The album acts more as a crystallized journal of a growing soul than anything, and though at moments it teeters on the edge of melodrama, The Year of Hibernation never feels overdone. Fortunately for Youth Lagoon’s audience, listening to each song is effortless and never once does the listener feel forced to find something redeeming.

Youth Lagoon approaches the majority of the eight-song LP by beginning each song with dreamlike melodies and yearning lyrics. At a certain point in the tracks, the base and drums transform the daydream into a parabolic head-bobber, creating a catchy vibe that allows listeners to get into the rhythm. To fill out its sound, for example, Youth Lagoon doesn’t withhold from howling, whistling and clapping its way into your already tapping foot.

The opening track, “Posters,” prepares the listener for what to expect throughout the entire album. A resonating synth looms patiently in the background until the breakdown, where it attaches itself to a punchy drum in the first of many electronic detours. The first track seems to be a template, setting a specific tone and sound for a few of the other tracks on the album.

“Afternoon,” on the other hand, is inspired by the anxiety of not knowing if a loved one will be waiting when you return for them. It opens with a childlike synth that ripples through each measure as the sound slowly fattens and crescendos with tasteful whistling and a syncopated tambourine.

Powers and Hyde take their intriguing sound even further by forging a harmonious reciprocity between a picked electric guitar and a wheezing drum machine on “Cannons,” resulting in one of the more electronic tracks of the album, enrapturing listeners in its interesting beats and stand out sound.

Another electronic track, “Day Dream,” is the most overt in its electronic inclination, as seen with its pulsing synth overlaid with echoing vocals. A guitar solo steers the song into the deepest electronic experimentation on the album. This song is something of an anomaly on an album where most of the songs ascend slowly, but “Day Dream” stands as a testament to Youth Lagoon’s ability to produce more honest music.

As for popularity, the track that has received the most internet buzz is “Montana.” The song’s spine consists of pounding chords on a coarse sounding piano. Additionally, “Montana” feels like the culmination of all the emotions of the album, vacillating between the victorious and the wistful.

At times, the album can feel formulaic. But each track stands alone as a triumphant elegy for lost youth and a surefooted gaze toward the frightening future.

Despite the sense that the lyrics transcend the present, Youth Lagoon has no problem holding one’s attention and heart solidly in the moment. The elegiac parts that constitute The Year of Hibernation are less than revolutionary, but the beauty of this album is found in the synthesis of these parts.

The Year of Hibernation is currently available online and through Fat Possum Records.