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Jan 08, 2025 By Mark Redfern Photography by Tyler T. Williams

Youth Lagoon (aka Trevor Powers) has announced a new album, Rarely Do I Dream, and shared a new song from it, “Speed Freak,” via a music video. He’s also announced some tour dates. Rarely Do I Dream is due out February 21 via Fat Possum. Regular collaborator Tyler T. Williams directed the new song’s video. Check out “Speed Freak” below, followed by all the album details and tour dates.

Rarely Do I Dream is the fairly quick followup to Heaven Is a Junkyard, released in June 2023 via Fat Possum.

The album was inspired by home videos of his childhood that Powers found in the fall of 2023 in a shoebox in his parent’s basement.

“When I took the tapes home and popped in the first one, it was my brother Bobby and I at the state fair. I was 4 years old choking on a corn dog,” Powers says in a press release. “If anything’s a summary of life, that is.”

He then started recording moments from the home movies off the TV and sampling some of the audio to work it into songs. “What I was really consumed with was how much I could zoom in on my actual history,” says Powers. “I wanted to really make someone feel like they were inside my living room in 1993, but rearrange the furniture a bit. Something about combining that level of hyperreality with fairytales of devils and detectives weirdly felt like the truest way to immortalize these pieces of my family.”

“The more I rewind the tapes of my life, the more I can hear the voice of my soul,” Powers adds. “This isn’t nostalgia. Life’s much more messy than that. It’s a dedication to all the parts of who I was, who I am, and who I’m going to be.”

Of “Speed Freak,” Powers says: “This song came from a thought I had of giving the angel of death a hug. We spend our whole lives running from this thing we can’t outrun. This body is temporary, but there is no death. Only transformation. A door opens when you learn to let go of the identity you’ve been building your whole life. Someone told me a couple years ago, ‘I have good news for you and I have bad news. The bad news is Trevor is doomed. There’s no hope for Trevor. The good news is — you’re not Trevor.’ When I heard that, it clicked.”

Rarely Do I Dream features three songs Youth Lagoon released as singles last year: “Lucy Takes a Picture” (one of our Songs of the Week), “Football” (also one of our Songs of the Week), and “My Beautiful Girl” (again one of our Songs of the Week).

Powers recorded the album with co-producer/mixer/engineer Rodaidh McDonald (Weyes Blood, The xx, Gil Scott-Heron).

As Youth Lagoon, Powers released three albums: 2011’s The Year of Hibernation, 2013’s Wondrous Bughouse, and 2015’s Savage Hills Ballroom. Then he retired the name in 2016 and released two albums simply as Trevor Powers: 2018’s Mulberry Violence and 2020’s surprise-released Capricorn. All before returning to Youth Lagoon for Heaven Is a Junkyard.

Read our 2011 interview with Youth Lagoon.

Read our 2015 interview with Youth Lagoon.

Read our 2023 interview with Youth Lagoon.

Rarely Do I Dream Tracklist:

1. Neighborhood Scene
2. Speed Freak
3. Football
4. Gumshoe (Dracula From Arkansas)
5. Seersucker
6. Lucy Takes a Picture
7. Perfect World
8. My Beautiful Girl
9. Canary
10. Parking Lot
11. Saturday Cowboy Matinee
12. Home Movies (1989-1993)

Youth Lagoon Tour Dates: Thu. Mar. 27 - Spokane, WA @ District Bar @ Knitting Factory
Fri. Mar. 28 - Missoula, MT @ ZACC
Sat. Mar. 29 - Boise, ID @ Treefort Fest
Thu. Apr. 3 Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
Fri. Apr. 4 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
Sat. Apr. 5 - Victoria, BC @ Upstairs
Sun. Apr. 6 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
Tue. Apr. 8 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
Wed. Apr. 9 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
Thu. Apr. 10 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Fri. Apr. 11 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
Mon. Apr. 14 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
Tue. Apr. 15 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk
Wed. Apr. 16 - Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Art Co
Fri. Apr. 18 - Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
Sat. Apr. 19 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Altar)
Sun. Apr. 20 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
Mon. Apr. 21 - Washington, DC @ The Atlantis
Tue. Apr. 22 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry
Thu. Apr. 24 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Fri. Apr. 25 - Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall
Sat. Apr. 26 - New Haven, CT @ Space Ballroom
Sun. Apr. 27 - Boston, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
Tue. Apr. 29 - Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
Thu. May 1 - Toronto, ON @ Axis
Fri. May 2 - Detroit, MI @ El Club
Sat. May 3 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
Sun. May 4 - Louisville, KY @ Whirling Tiger
Mon. May 5 - Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi
Wed. May 7 - Chicago, IL @ Outset
Thu. May 8 - Milwaukee, WI @ Vivarium
Fri May 9 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
Sat. May 10 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Mon. May 12 - St. Louis, MO @ Atomic Cowboy
Tue. May 13 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
Thu. May 15 - Denver, CO @ Marquis
Fri. May 16 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party

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