After three albums of dreamy, psychedelic, experimental indie pop, Trevor Powers played his final show as Youth Lagoon in 2016. He’s since released a pair of albums under his own name, 2018’s Mulberry Violence and 2020’s surprise-released Capricorn. Now Powers is resurrecting the Youth Lagoon moniker for a new album called Heaven Is A Junkyard, due out in June via Fat Possum.

Powers decided to bring back Youth Lagoon after suffering a severe reaction to over-the-counter medication in 2021. His stomach turned into a “non-stop geyser of acid,” he dropped 30 pounds, and even lost the ability to speak for a while. As Powers put it, “It all felt symbolic in a way. I’d been swallowing fear all my life and now here it was coming back up.” Upon recovering, he began writing about life back in Idaho, a shift from the fantastical focus of his previous work. Powers recorded Heaven Is A Junkyard with Rodaidh McDonald (The xx, Savages, Sampha, Adele, etc.). He says the album is “about all of us. It’s stories of brothers leaving for war, drunk fathers learning to hug, mothers falling in love, neighbors stealing mail, cowboys doing drugs, friends skipping school, me crying in the bathtub, dogs catching rabbits, and children playing in tall grass.”

Lead single “Idaho Alien” arrives today with a video directed by Tyler T. Williams. Watch below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Rabbit”
02 “Idaho Alien”
03 “Prizefighter”
04 “The Sling”
05 “Lux Radio Theatre”
06 “Deep Red Sea”
07 “Trapeze Artist”
08 “Mercury”
09 “Little Devil From The Country”
10 “Helicopter Toy”

Heaven Is A Junkyard is out 6/9 on Fat Possum.