Trevor Powers arrived on this Earth with a good rock-star name, but when the time came to become one, he decided to call himself Youth Lagooninstead. Now three years into the project, young Powers already has a coveted two-pm slot at Coachella and a critically acclaimed sophomore album (NPR, NY Times, Pitchfork—can you do any better?). Released March 5th on Fat Possum, the record packs up Youth Lagoon’s hypnotic computer-pop and trots it into metaphysical territory.
For visual reference, a new video that plays like a truncated episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? follows a skateboarding teenager as he encounters the strange and supernatural in the supposedly safe confines of his neighborhood. Echoes of church music and bird songs pervade the two-part song like acoustic signatures of suburbia; the track chugging along with the bright synthetic crunch of MGMT on cinematic steroids.
If you’re not headed to Coachella next Weekend, or plan on being waist deep in a pool of margaritas on Friday at 2pm, you can enjoy Mr. Power’s trip-happy tunes tomorrow night at the El Rey.