The Soft Moon

The project of multi-instrumentalist Luis Vasquez, the Soft Moon confronted existential dread with an unflinching mix of industrial and post-punk. The murky electronics and riffs of 2010's self-titled debut hinted at the explosive blend of industrial and EBM Vasquez would use to express his frustrations on albums such as 2015's Deeper and 2018's Criminal. With 2022's Exister, he presented a more collaborative and spacious-sounding version of the Soft Moon without sacrificing any of his music's cathartic impact. When Vasquez died in 2024, he left behind a legacy of raw, honest, and frequently beautiful music.

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Vasquez started writing his own songs a few months after his grandfather bought him a guitar when he was 12. By the time he was 15, he'd started his first band, and played in punk acts throughout his teens. Vasquez struck out on his own when he was 20, and he eventually founded the Soft Moon while working in San Francisco. His first single, "Breathe the Fire," appeared on Captured Tracks in March 2010; Parallels followed that September, and the Soft Moon's self-titled debut album appeared in November. Darker still was the Total Decay EP, which arrived in late October 2011. Vasquez continued to write songs while on the road, and enlisted the help of engineer/producer Monte Vallier to turn them into the streamlined tracks that appeared on October 2012's Zeros, which added more electronic elements to Vasquez's sound. That year also saw the release of "Evidence," a collaboration with synth pop pioneer John Foxx and his band the Maths.

After touring in support of Zeros, Vasquez moved to Venice, Italy, before settling in Berlin, and used the solitude and his status as a foreigner as inspiration for a set of songs that explored despair and healing. Working with producer Maurizio Baggio at Hate Studios, Vasquez honed his singing and songwriting to produce 2015's Deeper, some of the Soft Moon's most emotional music. A pair of remix EPs featuring work by Ancient Methods, Trentemøller, and Blush Response arrived early the following year. For the Soft Moon's fourth album, February 2018's Criminal, Vasquez reunited with Baggio and built on the confessional territory of Deeper as he explored his abusive childhood and its aftermath. Wishing to dig deeper into his inner conflicts, he returned with A Body of Errors, a set of largely instrumental songs that took a more reflective approach to the feeling of being trapped in one's own body. Vasquez's first album to be released under his own name, it arrived in January 2021 on 2 Mondi Collective.

During the COVID-19 global pandemic, Vasquez moved from Berlin to the Joshua Tree, California, a change of locale that allowed him to sing and play drums as loud as he needed without worrying about bothering the neighbors. This artistic freedom and his vast surroundings inspired September 2022's Exister, another anguished set of songs that included collaborations with fish narc and Special Interest's Alli Logout. Among the Soft Moon's shows in support of the album were appearances at 2023's Roadburn and Cruel World festivals. That December, an instrumental version of Exister was released. Vasquez died at the age of 44 in January 2024. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi