Mulberry Violence
As Youth Lagoon, Trevor Powers explored the psychedelic space between pop music and more experimental post-rock. For his first release under his own name, he’s chosen the latter path completely. Hooks and traditional compositions—often hidden or obscured in Youth Lagoon—are completely sublimated on *Mulberry Violence* to tense, industrial textures. Opener “XTQ Idol” wanders over sparse piano and trip-hop beats, with Powers’ vocals glitching out and shifting pitches. “Clad in Skin” incorporates clattering production and skronking sax into something that approaches a conventional song structure, but it all makes for darker, moodier atmospheres than Youth Lagoon ever conjured before.
With Youth Lagoon in the rear-view, Trevor Powers remains a sure-handed sculptor of sound. His voice here surges to the fore, newly exposed and digitally treated.
In 2016 Trevor Powers wrote an open letter to fans explaining that he "ended Youth Lagoon because it became a mental dungeon, and I was its captive. My intention was never to keep it going -- only to serve as a nod to the blooming years."
You may be familiar with the work of Trevor Powers under the name Youth Lagoon. Having ended that project in 2016, Powers has revamped his s...
Trevor Powers made a string of albums with the moniker Youth Lagoon, 'Mulberry Violence' is his first under his own name - an LP of icy electronica.
In 2016, Trevor Powers retired his project Youth Lagoon because it had grown too confining, and he had done all he could within the expectations he set for...
Trevor Powers pushes pop to its absolute ends as he creates a genre of his own in the catchy yet quite abrasive 'Mulberry Violence' in our review.