SOFT MOON, THE 'Deeper'

Luis Vasquez never intended for THE SOFT MOON to reach the public’s ears; for him, music has always been about self­-actualization rather than self-aggrandizement. Nevertheless, the bleak, hushed sounds he created years ago in his small Oakland apartment bubbled to the surface and 2010 saw his debut LP, THE SOFT MOON, released on Captured Tracks rise to critical acclaim. For them, and for Vasquez, there was no turning back. The 'Total Decay' EP and 'Zeros' emerged soon after, and now Vasquez returns with THE SOFT MOON’s most introspective and focused album to date: 'Deeper'. Following live line­-up changes and a lull in THE SOFT MOON’s constant touring schedule, the year 2013 found Luis Vasquez lost in the void. Though he fatalistically stated that 2012’s 'Zeros' would be the last album where he was the sole songwriter, Vasquez realized that THE SOFT MOON has always been one man’s vision. Over time, it’s been the one place where Vasquez can express himself, totally and singularly, on his own terms. At Hate, he worked for almost a year with producer Maurizio Baggio to piece together 'Deeper', only completing the album in August 2014. While maintaining the stark sonic formula so indicative of THE SOFT MOON’s music — that bass that reeks of chorus, those unrelenting, mechanized beats, that wailing synthesizer and those eerily, angular guitar lines that worm into your ears and never leave — Baggio also worked to refine the album’s gothic palette, leaving Vasquez to concentrate more intensely on songwriting and singing than ever before. The voice of THE SOFT MOON has never been more clear and honest than it is on this record. By facing the most hopeless parts of himself without illusion and putting his past demons to bed, the creation of 'Deeper' was an intense personal exploration of existence for Vasquez — old wounds were forcibly opened, deep anger and paranoia were manipulated into song — and he did not emerge unchanged. 'Deeper' may have delivered Vasquez back to the waking world, but it willingly drags us further into THE SOFT MOON’s dark, euphonic universe once more.