INTERVIEW: Youth Lagoon
by Adam Perry for Westword 10/12/2015
Trevor Powers debuted as Youth Lagoon in 2011 with the gorgeous indie-pop minimalism of The Year of Hibernation, a calm, poetic and endearing trip through the anxiety, curiosity and lament of the then-21-year-old Boise State University student. Powers, who looked even younger than 21 in press photos surrounding The Year of Hibernation, has since become a worldwide phenomenon, touring with Death Cab for Cutie and performing at every major festival from Pitchfork to SXSW.
Admirably, the vast critical success of The Year of Hibernation — which was followed in 2013 by a powerfully psychedelic left-turn called Wondrous Bughouse — resulted in a quick, and stunning, evolution.
The ghostly video for the stark, ambitious electro-pop tune “Highway Patrol Stun Gun” — from July’s Savage Hills Ballroom — shows Powers (looking considerably more grown up than the fresh-faced, adorably goofy hipster who emerged in 2011) wandering New York with a man in a gold mask. The images are nearly as thought-provoking as Savage Hills Ballroom’s dark lyrics, from “Everybody wants to think that their luck will change / when there’s no such thing” to “We’re gold that’s as bright as hell’s own flame.”
We caught up with Powers by phone from Boise just before his ongoing tour — which stops in Denver at the Bluebird Theater on Friday — began. Read the interview at Westword.com here.
Adam Perry 