The Soft Moon‘s Deeper LP came out this past March via Captured Tracks, and it definitely burns with a black light! Bleak and aphotic in the best of ways, we’ve come to expect nothing less from Louis Vasquez–an artist who haunts the existential fringes of dread and anxiety with sonic incisiveness.
Today we watch the new video for the album’s title track, directed by Kelsey Henderson. The details are left murky here–guy checks into a cheap room and finds a random snuff tape of torture? Henderson uses grainy cell phone footage in an attempt to give his visuals a seedy, cinéma vérité feel, but his reading of the track is too obvious. This video could have been much creepier, and thus more effective, had the violence been implied rather than simulated. Ok, let’s face it, we’ve been on a cultural death trip through most of the 20th century, but we’ve come to a point where images of violence and mayhem have so over-saturated our collective unconscious that they’ve begun to loose their ability to shock as artistic statement. Watching “Deeper”‘s images of men being bound and gagged, as the act is filmed, ring hollow. In an age when such horrific acts are uploaded to YouTube on a nearly daily basis, before being quickly scrubbed, such simulations ultimately come across as cartoonish. The director’s vision of horror here suffers for it, and a video that could have been truly disturbing, ends up falling flat.
The Soft Moon is currently touring Europe. Here are the upcoming dates…
17-09 Gothenburg, SE – Pustervik %
18-09 Stockholm, SE – Debaser Strand %
19-09 Oslo, NO – Bla %
21-09 Huskvarna, SE – Folkets Park %
23-09 Helsinki, FI – Kuudes Linja
24-09 Tallinn, EE – Sinilind
25-09 Ventspils, LV – Juras Varti Theatre House
26-09 Riga, LV – Nabaklab
27-09 Vilinus, LT – Club Kablys
28-09 Warsaw, PL – Kulturalna, Distorted Club
30-09 Prague, CZ – Futurum #
01-10 Vienna, AT – Arena #
02-10 Budapest, HU – A38 #
03-10 Cluj Napoca, RO – The Shelter #
04-10 Timsoara, RO – DAOS Club #
05-10 Sofia, BG – Sofia Live Club #
06-10 Skopje, MK – MKC #
07-10 Beograd, SRB – Drugstore #
08-10 Zagreb, CR – Tvornica Kulture #
09-10 Ljubljana, SI – Kino Siski #
10-10 Prato, IT – Exenzia #
11-10 Rome, IT – Monk #
15-10 Geneva, CH – La Graviere §
16-10 Zurich, CH – Rote Fabrik §
17-10 Dudingen, CH – Bad Bonn §
18-10 Luxembourg, LU – Rockhal
19-10 Dublin, IE – Whelans
20-10 Manchester, UK – Night & Day
21-10 London, UK – Electrowerkz
22-10 Glasgow, UK – Broadcast
23-10 Brighton, UK – Green Door Store
24-10 Bristol, UK – Simple Things Festival
03-11 Dijon, FR – Novosonic Festival, Atheneum
04-11 Besancon, FR – La Rodia @
05-11 Angers, FR – Le Chabada @
06-11 La Roche Sur Yon, FR – Le Fuzz’yon @
07-11 Lorient, FR – Les Indisciplines Festival, Le Manege
08-11 Paris, FR – Musique Volantes, Machine Du Moulin Rouge
21-11 Kortrijk, BE – Sonic City Festival, De Kreun
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