Powers was initially active as Youth Lagoon between 2010 and 2016, releasing three studio albums – The Year of Hibernation (2011), Wondrous Bughouse (2013) and Savage Hills Ballroom (2015) – before announcing his retirement from the project.[5] He returned to music in 2018, releasing two studio albums under his own name, before announcing the return of his Youth Lagoon moniker in 2022.[6]
Working closely with producer Rodaidh McDonald, Powers released his fourth Youth Lagoon album, Heaven Is a Junkyard, in 2023 to widespread critical acclaim. The album was followed by Rarely Do I Dream in 2025, to further acclaim, with its lyrical content rooted in boyhood memoir and old-world folklore and incorporates samples from home movies.[7][8]
Career
2011–2016: Youth Lagoon, The Year of Hibernation, Wondrous Bughouse and Savage Hills Ballroom
Youth Lagoon's debut album, The Year of Hibernation, was released on Fat Possum Records on September 27, 2011.[9] Based on minimalism and hypnotic ambience melded with atmospheric and electronic elements, the debut explored themes such as psychological dysphoria and mental distress.[4]
Youth Lagoon's second album, Wondrous Bughouse, was released on March 5, 2013, by Fat Possum.[10] It was spawned from what he described as "becoming more fascinated with the human psyche and where spirituality meets the physical world."[11] During the time he composed the album, Powers became intrigued with metaphysics and he blended those ideas with pop music.[12][13] Youth Lagoon's tour in support of Wondrous Bughouse was cut short due to the death of a close friend of Powers.[14]
On November 12, 2014, Powers announced, via Twitter, that writing for his third album had been finished. Recording started in January 2015. The July 10, 2015, release of "The Knower", a free single-sided 7" single, marked the announcement of his third album, Savage Hills Ballroom, released on September 25, 2015.[15][16] In July 2015, Youth Lagoon announced a US tour in support of Savage Hills Ballroom.[17]
2016–2022: Releasing music under his own name
On February 1, 2016, Powers announced on Twitter that his Youth Lagoon project was concluding.[18]
On May 2, 2018, Powers announced his return to music by issuing a personal letter[6] along with the single "Playwright", his first song release since 2015. The letter elaborated on Power's self-titled project, highlighting the project as a new work.
On May 20, 2018, he announced that he would release his first album under his own name, Mulberry Violence, in late 2018.[19] Powers released two more singles from the forthcoming album, "Ache" and "Plaster Saint" with a newly penned letter providing more insight into the project.[20]
On July 29, 2020, Powers surprise-released his second album as Trevor Powers, titled Capricorn, along with limited-edition cassettes and booklet designed by Los Angeles-based designer Collin Fletcher, who also designed the artwork for the album.[21]
2022–present: Return to Youth Lagoon, Heaven Is a Junkyard and Rarely Do I Dream
On November 10, 2022, Powers announced that he would be releasing a new album as Youth Lagoon.[22] He recorded the album with producer Rodaidh McDonald. Powers credited his discovery of meditation as a motivating factor in returning to the Youth Lagoon name: "The creative portal opened up in a way that I never thought was possible. That's why Youth Lagoon as an entity is, for all intents and purposes, such a brand new project now. When I killed it off in 2016, there was no clarity in my life. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to take it. When I had that spiritual reset, it fine-tuned my my eyes and that deep part of my soul, in a way where it showed me exactly what to do with music and where I'm going."[23]
The resulting album, Heaven Is a Junkyard, was released June 9, 2023 on Fat Possum Records. The album received widespread critical acclaim, receiving a Best New Music accolade from Pitchfork and placing highly on several publications' end-of-year lists. Powers released his fifth Youth Lagoon album, Rarely Do I Dream, on February 21, 2025, to further acclaim, with its lyrical content rooted in spiritualism, old-world folklore, and boyhood memoir informed by Powers' discovery of home videos in his parents' basement.[24] In February 2025, he announced a tour in support of the album.
Personal life
In October 2021 after taking an over-the-counter medication, Powers had a severe drug reaction which turned his stomach into a "non-stop geyser of acid," coating his larynx and vocal cords for eight months. "I saw seven doctors and multiple specialists. I lost over thirty pounds. No one could help me," says Powers. By Christmas, he could no longer speak, turning to text messages and a pen and paper as his only ways to communicate. "I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to speak again, let alone sing," he says. "It all felt symbolic in a way," he adds. "I’d been swallowing fear all my life and now here it was coming back up. I used to think God watches people suffer. Now I know God suffers with you. That changed everything.” Trevor's voice slowly came back as he recorded music for Heaven Is a Junkyard.[25]
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