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Feb 20, 2025 Web Exclusive By Scotty Dransfield

With Rarely Do I Dream, a new album inspired by the discovery of home video tapes from his childhood, Trevor Powers flips the script on the Youth Lagoon story, delivering what is easily the most warm and hopeful music he has yet released. A press release states that Powers “wanted the music to feel like life itself,” and that goal is apparent in every minute of this album. He has undoubtedly undergone a major transformation over the last few years: where Youth Lagoon’s earlier albums, particularly the debut A Year of Hibernation, were just as focused on memory, nostalgia, and the pain of lived moments slipping further into the past, this album is the first to look back and primarily find joy. Compared to 2023’s somber comeback Heaven is a Junkyard, Rarely Do I Dream feels much livelier, a celebratory testament to Powers’ reinvigorated creativity.

This new collection feels like a sonic sequel to 2015’s Savage Hills Ballroom, which introduced crisp, upbeat, high-fidelity pop tunes to the Youth Lagoon canon, exemplified best by the brilliant single “Highway Patrol Stun Gun.” When Powers abruptly ended Youth Lagoon after that release, fans who loved that direction were left hanging. Rarely Do I Dream is the follow-up they’ve been secretly hungry for all these years: an incredibly self-assured set of dream pop tunes that honor the moments that crafted Powers as a child, while pushing his artistic vision in bold new directions.

One of the album’s most striking touches is the inclusion of snippets from Powers’ family’s videotapes from his earliest years. These clips radiate specificity and vulnerability, yet spark a familiar nostalgia even for those who have lived entirely different lives. This thread culminates in the closing track, “Home Movies (1989-1993),” which is composed solely of these old clips and an evocative piano-based backdrop. It’s a powerfully intimate conclusion to an album that is personal and genuine to the core. Rarely Do I Dream is vital and exciting, and shows its audience, maybe for the first time, a Trevor Powers with a solid foundation and lots of gas in the tank. (www.youthlagoon.bandcamp.com/album/rarely-do-i-dream)

Author rating: 8.5/10