MUSIC RIDE ON: Following the announcement of its upcom- ing Coachella appearance and new LP Bankrupt! (out in April), Phoenix has put together a slew of North American tour dates. Booked by the Richard de la Font Agency, the run will take ARTIST: Youth Lagoon off at the Queen Elizabeth ALBUM: Wondrous Bughouse Theatre in Vancouver (March 28) before hitting Crystal LABEL Fat Possum Ballroom in Portland, Ore. (March 30), Freeborn Hall in MANAGER Matt Halverson Davis, Calif. (April 2), the AVA PRODUCER Ben Allen Amphitheater in Tucson, Ariz. (April 9) and Las Vegas PUBLISHER Royalty Net Cosmopolitan (April 10). CHART HISTORY: The Year of RINGING BELLS: Future - Hibernation (2011), No.8 pop outfit Purity Ring is also Heatseekers Albums, 37,000 going to be touring North America, and will bring two- TWITTER @youthlagoon some Blue Hawaii along for the ride. The news comes on the heels of new tune "Grammy," a cover of Soulja Like most of the other songs on Wondrous Bug - would make Phil Spector proud. Boy's original. Booked by ROCK Ryan Craven of the Windish house, "Dropla" takes its inspiration from "the "He had a budget this time and it sounds like it," Agency, the tour will begin at places my mind takes me when I'm alone," Powers Fat Possum founder Matthew Johnson says. "I loved Ritual Nightclub in Ottawa, says. The song is about reconciling with the idea ofthe last album, but this is a wonderful step forward Ontario (April 2), before mak- ing stops at Urban Lounge Thinking death-lifting the veil of blissful ignorance to which for him. It's not something you could have recorded in Salt Lake City (April 10). most people cling when it comes to their own inevi- in your bedroom." Beauty Bar in Las Vegas table fate. Another immediately noticeable shift is in Powers' (April 11), Neptune Theatre in Seattle (April 24) and "Toward the beginning of the writing process for Out Loud voice. Where on The Year of Hibernation his vocals Metro in Chicago (May 3). this record, this fear of mortality started overtaking were often hushed and warbled, this time they're Youth Lagoon comes out of his my mind," he says. "I was thinking about the fact front and center, leaving the lyrics suddenly exposed. BETH ON THE HORIZON: Legendary metal act Mega- shell with expansive new sound that everyone knows that they won't live forever, but "It's something I struggled with," Powers says. "I deth is resurfacing with a you never really swallow that idea." chose to make the vocals more present because it freshly planned U.K. tour as on sophomore album The Year of Hibernation, Powers' 2011 debut al- made things come to life in a way." well as its upcoming 14th LP, Super Collider (Univer- By Reggie Ugwu bum, was recorded in his native Boise, Idaho, with In support of Wondrous Bughouse, Johnson says sal Music Enterprises). the help of a friend who offered up his home for use the label's shooting a music video for "Dropla" and Booked by the Richard de as a makeshift studio. This time around, though, pursuing select commercial synchs. (Previous com- la Font Agency, the tour starts at the 02 Academy in Powers journeyed further out of his comfort zone, panies that have licensed Youth Lagoon songs in ads Newcastle, England (June 3) traveling to Atlanta to record with producer Ben Al- include Allstate and Walgreens.) Meanwhile, Pow- before hitting 02 Academy Trevor Powers makes music so intensely personal that len (Animal Collective, Cee Lo Green, Diddy). ers will begin a nationwide tour Feb. 25 in Spokane, in Glasgow, Scotland (June 4), Manchester Academy in listening to it can feel like eavesdropping. Recording "He's just a great mind to bounce ideas off of," Wash.; play Sasquatch Festival in May; and open for Manchester, England (June 5) as Youth Lagoon-whose second album, Wondrous Powers says. the National at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on June 5. and Brixton in London (June Bughouse, is due March 5 on Fat Possum-he first Allen's studio gave Powers access to new instru- After that? Home to Idaho. 6). It's also slated for festival appearances at Sonisphere made contact with the wider world in 2011 through ments, including obscure guitars and out -of -circula- "I've realized that as long as I can travel all over Italy (June 8) and Soni- "July," an achingly dreamy aural postcard on which tion synthesizers that he could have only dreamed of the world with my music, it doesn't really matter sphere France (June 9). he sounds as if he's singing from the bottom of a well. in Boise. The new album reflects this new arsenal, where home base is," he says. "Boise is kind of like WOLF SONG: Rapper/pro- "July" and follow-up single "Cannons" earned Pow- with synths that crackle and walls of sound that my escape. It's my own little paradise." 0 ducer and Odd Future front - ers a passionate, young -skewing following online. But man Tyler, the Creator will two years later, he wasn't sure whether people would release new album Wolf April 2 on Odd Future Records still be able to connect to his music. and support it with a string "I always make music for myself, for my own rea- of dates. Booked by Global sons," Powers says. "And because of that, I tend to"He had a budget this time and it sounds Talent Booking, the trek will hit the ground running get lost in my own world. I never know what other at Newport Music Hall in people are going to think of it." like it. I loved the last album, but this Columbus, Ohio (March 12), His apprehension turned out to be unwarrant- then land at Norva in Norfolk, Va. (March 17), Paradise ed. In January, Powers put out a new song called isn't something you could have recorded Rock Club in Boston (March "Dropla," which, to the amazement of both 211, White Rabbit in San An- himself and many observers, propelled his band in your bedroom."-MATTHEW JOHNSON, FAT POSSUM tonio (April 3) and SID Brew in San Luis Obispo, Calif. name to the No. i trending topic on Twitter in the (April 8). -Nick Williams United States. "I was excited and pleasantly surprised that peo- ple responded well to it," he says. "Not everyone, but most people." MARCH 2, 2013 I WWW.BILLBOARD.BIZ.