One of the most anticipated albums we are looking forward this summer is Youth Lagoon’s The Year Of Hibernation. The first introduction from Youth Lagoon was “July” which felt like an encapsulation of summer, so naturally it felt fitting to be released in July. But something that really attracted us to Youth Lagoon was the simple melodies and emotionally affecting vocals that reflected our own inner vulnerabilities. Hearing only three tracks thus far, we can already anticipate that his album will be a really meaningful and introspective one.

Using only a minimal amount of instrumentation and innocent, youthful vocals proves to be a powerful combination. The appeal of Youth Lagoon’s music is that it is so simple and uncomplicated yet it somehow manages to be so complex and moving. Unlike most mainstream songs and artists today that croon about love and heart break over a glossy and professional sound, Youth Lagoon implements a more gauzey lo-fi one, in a much more raw and real way that connects with the listener. Listening to the tracks we really can appreciate the emotional devotion invested in them; we can almost envision a young Trevor Powers concealed in his bedroom translating the tribulations of youth into songs.

One of the things we really appreciate about Youth Lagoon is that each song holds up to the last one. When we first heard “July” we didn’t think it could really get any better, but after the release of “Cannons” and “Montana”, we found that we loved them all equally as much. All of these tracks have the same quality that we mentioned before, in their ability to affect the listener but they still manage to be completely diverse from one another. What we mean by this is that it doesn’t feel like we are listening to the same song over again but rather individual tracks that cohesively tell a similar story in different songs.

We can really imagine The Year Of Hibernation becoming a summer anthem for us, especially since it will be conveniently release in the summer month of July 5 (via Juno Beach Records). We predicted before that this album might render the listener inconsolable and completely heartbroken (but in a good, therapeutic kind of way). Listening to only a few tracks, we think it just might do that.

MP3: Youth Lagoon - July

MP3: Youth Lagoon - Cannons

MP3: Youth Lagoon - Montana