When Trevor Powers brought his Youth Lagoon project to Walker’s Point for a Studio Milwaukee Session in July of 2023, there was good cause to be excited. Little did we know that shortly after his visit, Powers would embark on a journey that brings him back to Milwaukee on May 8 for a show at the Vivarium.
Jumping back to that session, Powers was in town on the heels of releasing Heaven Is a Junkyard — an album that debuted seven years after Youth Lagoon was supposedly done. His performance was warm and wonderful, as was the sold-out show at Cactus Club later that evening.
Now we move ahead to the fall of 2023, when Powers stumbled on a shoebox packed with home videos while scouring his parents’ basement for a decades-old harmonica that was once his grandmother’s. “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,” he recounted, laughing. “If anything’s a summary of life, that is.”
Powers’ recollection came as part of an announcement for new album Rarely Do I Dream — a project with the vibes of a childhood memoir and the hopes of more personal growth to come. “The more I rewind the tapes of my life, the more I can hear the voice of my soul,” he said in the release. “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.”
The first taste of the new record (due out Feb. 21) is lead single “Speed Freak,” a moody and layered track that Powers said sprung from the idea of “giving the angel of death a hug.” It’s an ideal opening salvo for his album of self-exploration that just might have a few things to say about our own human experience.
We have a few weeks to wait before checking out all 12 tracks of Rarely Do I Dream, but tickets for Youth Lagoon’s Vivarium show hit much sooner, with the general sale starting at 10 a.m. this Friday, Jan. 10, online and at the Pabst/Riverside box offices.
