Youth Lagoon, aka Trevor Powers, has been building up to the release of his third album Savage Hills Ballroom for a couple of months now. Keeping fans in anticipation, he’s been dropping tracks ahead of the September 25 release date. Previously released songs, The Knower and Highway Patrol Stun Gun have signaled a new direction for the dream-pop Idaho artist. Yesterday, he shared a third single: Rotten Human.
Rotten Human was premiered via Nerdist and according to Powers, it’s all about addressing the shitty, hurtful things you might have said or done to someone. “It’s so much easier to go through each day and forget the previous day or forget the hurtful things you said to someone or whatever it might be, just the shitty parts of your life. This song is addressing that. It’s really examining what it is that makes me who I am, and what parts of that are disgusting.” The track opens with Power’s signature croak turned up a notch, leading the song for a good minute as it builds to include intricate layers of instrumentation and simple but effective refrains of “no I won’t” and “on your way”.
Reading all the interviews Powers has given about this third Youth Lagoon LP, it seems as though writing and recording Savage Hills Ballroom has been a process full of confrontation and catharsis for the musician. While that isn’t surprising – Youth Lagoon seems to have always been there for Powers as a way of processing and understanding, we’re still excited to listen to the album in full, as with each Youth Lagoon release, there comes development and a new take on his sound.