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The  Year of Hibernation Image
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 54 Ratings

  • Summary: Recorded in his bedroom, Trevor Powers' songs on his debut album were influenced by his personal feelings and struggles with anxiety.
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  • Record Label: Fat Possum
  • Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock, Dream Pop, Noise Pop, Neo-Psychedelia
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Top Track

17
Rowing the campground up by the lake where we swam. We were hunting for snakes But we couldn't find them. Surrounded by nothing But the nothing's... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Nov 15, 2011
    90
    The Year Of Hibernation is a powerful bit of emotional alchemy, arresting and enchanting in its naked simplicity, and Powers has accomplished a tour de force far beyond his bedroom walls or his 22 years.
  2. Sep 29, 2011
    84
    The record mixes feelings of protection and safety with the tug of adventure and wraps it in compulsively listenable music that explodes at just the right moments.
  3. Sep 27, 2011
    80
    Delivered in a frail squawk recalling Seattle singer-songwriter Perfume Genius, his coming-of-age songs carve intuitive, 
idiosyncratic paths (spidery guitar, buzzing electronics) to mountaintop indie-rock catharsis.
  4. Nov 7, 2011
    80
    It is both a captivating listen and a terrifying one: Powers was 22 this year, but his voice carries all the experience of a man thrice his age.
  5. Sep 27, 2011
    70
    His voice is something of an acquired taste but, this minor caveat aside, The Year Of Hibernation is a genuinely unique debut.
  6. Oct 7, 2011
    70
    Perhaps the album hits its heights a bit late, but when Youth Lagoon's full confidence is on display, it's hard to turn away.
  7. Sep 27, 2011
    60
    There's a compelling musician under all these layers--of sound and worry--we just need a few more peeled away for us to see him fully.

See all 18 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. May 29, 2023
    10
    Une pépite... Cet album se distingue de tout ce que l'on a déjà entendu. La voix, les instruments, la composition, les structures de chaqueUne pépite... Cet album se distingue de tout ce que l'on a déjà entendu. La voix, les instruments, la composition, les structures de chaque chanson... Tout respire la perfection d'un travail acharné. Tout ce que vous entendez dans cet album n'a jamais été entendu ailleurs. Ajoutez à cette force une capacité à dégager une puissance montante au cours de chaque chanson. L'énergie monte sans cesse, le rythme restant le même... Vous ne savez plus parfois d'où la chanson a commencé... Un voyage auquel nous invite Youth Lagoon. À écouter au casque, en fermant les yeux et en vous laissant enivrer par ces mélodies émotionnellement intenses et prenantes. Si vous avez apprécié l'album dès sa première écoute, alors réécoutez le une deuxième, une troisième, une quatrième fois... Vous verrez que vous ne vous en passerez plus et que vous pourrez l'analyser à nouveau, toujours en découvrant quelque chose d'autre, toujours avec plus de passion à chaque écoute... Bon voyage ! Expand
  2. Mar 6, 2013
    10
    I moved halfway across the US when this album came out. I had just graduated college and was making a big change in my life. Every step ofI moved halfway across the US when this album came out. I had just graduated college and was making a big change in my life. Every step of that transition (especially the 13 hour drive down), this album was with me, just as God was with me (and the music, for me, reminded me of this). A few months later, my friend and I had the privilege of seeing Trevor play in my new resident city. The show was sold out, but after hanging outside and making friends with the staff, we were allowed in. The feeling I had perfectly matched the music he played. We spent the next three hours after the show hanging out with him, just the three of us. He was such a happy kid, but with a lot of thoughts swirling around in his head--again, this translates onto the album. This album is incredible, perfectly capturing the feeling you have when the world is wide open to you, and you must decide what to do with it (which is both exciting and nerve-wracking). I told him my favorite song was The Hunt, the last track, and he said "Me too. I cried while I was recording the keys for that." You can hear the passion--not even necessarily in the vocals. If you're familiar with this album, you'd have believed him too. Expand
  3. Oct 8, 2011
    9
    It is a story and concept that seems to be the trend nowadays in indie music. Kid creates lo-fi music in his bedroom on his own, and thenIt is a story and concept that seems to be the trend nowadays in indie music. Kid creates lo-fi music in his bedroom on his own, and then somehow becomes a surprise success. At first glance, it seems Youth Lagoonâ Expand
  4. Sep 4, 2012
    8
    The atmosphere Trevor Powers creates is entrancing and wistful. There are times when you want to hear more than a few phrases. The vocalsThe atmosphere Trevor Powers creates is entrancing and wistful. There are times when you want to hear more than a few phrases. The vocals are buried behind the layers of keyboards, but this helps them become daydreams instead of poems. Promising start from a one-man band that pays homage to Bradford Cox and Connor Oberst. As he gains confidence in his singing, it will be interesting to see if he can sustain the daydream-ing effect. Expand
  5. Mar 13, 2013
    8
    This music works for me in so many different ways. I can really relate to Power's sense of hibernation. It's one of the things I do best. GoThis music works for me in so many different ways. I can really relate to Power's sense of hibernation. It's one of the things I do best. Go out about town (Chicago) and then come home 3 hours later to take in what it is I saw and felt as I moved about here and there. I had no idea this came out in 2011. How did I miss it? Fortunately, his "Wondrous Bughouse" came out to good reviews and I liked what I heard when I streamed it. These are two totally different albums in that Power's seems to have added confidence in his music the second time around. Both of the albums are wondrous coming from a young man of only 21 years of age, especially with this album sounding like a project he made in his bedroom, but, yet, it's better than a lot of polished music, which I'm hearing so far this year, being made in big studios with lots of money. Highly Recommended! Expand
  6. Oct 7, 2013
    8
    I really appreciate when someone can take a genre and established style of music and put their own unique twist into it, and with The Year ofI really appreciate when someone can take a genre and established style of music and put their own unique twist into it, and with The Year of Hibernation, Youth Lagoon surely does this. Another great thing about this music, is that although the vocals are hazy, the emotion conveyed in the timbre of the instruments are vocals is enough to satisfy. All in all it's a solid chill album, and a gem, not in the upper echelons, but worthy of high praise none-the-less. Expand