Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a bit about the Oakland, CA-based singer/songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist Luis Vasquez and his solo industrial/darkwave/post-punk recording project The Soft Moon, and as you may recall Vasquez’s latest Soft Moon album, Criminal is arguably one of the most confessional and deeply personal albums he has written and released to date, as the album’s material thematically focuses on a man at war with himself, battling with self-hatred, insecurity and self-entitlement — with an underlying fear that he’s quickly transforming into the type of person he despises. Now, back in March, I wrote about the brooding and starkly atmospheric “Give Something,” a track that Vasquez explained in press note sis about his inability to reciprocate love and tenderness to another person. “Having no control over the constant urge to sabotage all things that are good for me, there is irony and frustration in knowing that in the end, the impossibility of love is what ultimately will save me from myself,” the Oakland-based singer/songwriter, electronic music producer and multi-instrumentalist says in press notes.
Criminal‘s latest single “Like A Father” is centered around an abrasive and murky industrial production that brings Pretty Hate Machine and Downward Spiral-era Nine Inch Nails and Ministry to mind, as it features thumping, tweeter and woofer rattling beats, industrial clang and clatter, thick and arpeggiated synths and strummed guitar chords played through distortion and other effects pedals, and while the song is dance floor friendly, it churns with the inner turmoil of man figuratively — and perhaps at points, even literally — wrestling with himself and his own demons, and losing quite badly.
Directed by Kelsey Henderson, the recently released video for “Like A Father” is comprised of a series of rapid-fire edits that shift from a brooding and angry man looking at himself in a carnival mirror before switching to the same man in a garage bag struggling to break free from his physical (and emotional) confines. Much like the accompanying song, the video is unsettling and leaves a lingering presence.
Vasquez will be embarking on a European tour to support his new album throughout the summer. Check out the tour dates below.
THE SOFT MOON – EUROPEAN SUMMER DATES:
06-02 Yeah festival – Lourmarin, FR
06-04 Aucard de Tours Festival – Tours, FR
06-06 Le Cargo – Caen, FR
06-07 La Nef (Gonzai Night) – Angouleme, FR
06-08 Stereolithe (L’Autre Canal) – Nancy, FR
06-10 BOLb Festival – Moscow, RU
06-22 Minuit Avant La Nuit – Amiens, FR
06-23 Meltdown w/ My Bloody Valentine – London, UK
06-24 Meltdown w/ The KVB – London, UK
07-07 Nel Nome De Rock Festival – Palestrina, IT
07-14 Kliko Fest – Haarlem, NL
07-21 Rock Herk – Herk de Stad, BE
08-10 Chiu Festival – Bari, IT
08-12 Here I Stay Festival – Sardinia, IT
08-14 FZW Club – Dortmund, DE
08-15 Schlachthof – Wiesbaden, DE
08-16 Kleine Freiheit – Osnabruck, DE
08-17 MS Dockville – Hamburg, DE
08-18 Rock Altitude Festival – La Locle, CH
08-24 Freakshow Festival – Gigors et Lozeron, FR
08-25 Riverock Fest – Assisi, IT
00-21/22 Levitation
