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.