The Soft Moon has unveiled the video for the dark and powerful, dark new song, “Monster,” a track featured off the forthcoming new album Exister due September 23rd via Sacred Bones Records.
Luis Vasquez, the mastermind behind the outfit, deftly weaves his intense ballad poetry with hypnotic electronic music, continuing his knack for compelling storytelling through the filter of a disturbing lucid dream. “Monster” is an existential crisis elegantly set to music, demanding more of ourselves as a collective.
“The song to me evokes a real sense of underlining ache,” the video’s director Bryan M. Ferguson explains. “I knew immediately that the video should be a metamorphosis, a person’s body transforming into something hideous. It’s definitely a literal visual interpretation of what the song is about, but I really wanted the transformation from one physical shape to the other to be slow, painful and almost organic.”
On the stunning music video’s intense and laborious process using in camera and practical effects, Fergurson continues:
“Everything in the video is done practically and in-camera (absolutely no post-production VFX were added later), all of the stages of the transformation are achieved using prosthetics and all the light leaks in the camera where achieved in-camera with unusual methods such as shining a small torch directly into a broken camera lens, manipulating a split diopter to give a ghostly otherworldly movement to the images and even using my own glasses to move across the lens which warped the images.”
“The four of us (myself, my DP, the actor and my SFX makeup artist) shot the video over 12 hours inside a walled off concrete room in my flat that used to be someone’s garage. I stripped down to nothing and lay down a green tinged shag carpet which proved to be an interesting contrast to the industrial room.”
“My DP and I also ended up going out and cutting numerous branches down from nearby trees so we could move our lights by hand through the tree branches/leaves to cast strange shadows across the performer’s skin as he contorted which gives the illusion that their body is moving around unusually from the inside.”
Watch the video for “Monster” below:
Luis Vasquez began The Soft Moon as a solo project in 2009 with the intent to direct his energy toward the aim of delivering a full sensory experience within the context of live performance. The band would later integrate visual elements on stage to accompany performances, specifically light shows. The first from The Soft Moon in four years, Exister materialized after a massive move during lockdown. During the pandemic, Vasquez left his adopted city of Berlin and transplanted himself to the mystical Joshua Tree, California.
Pre-order Exister here.
The Soft Moon is set to embark on a tour of Europe and North America in the autumn to promote the new album. All dates are listed below.
The Soft Moon Tour Dates:
- Sep 26 Hamburg, DE – U&G
- Sep 27 Berlin, DE – So36
- Sep 28 Leipzig, DE – UT Connewitz
- Sep 29 Cologne, DE – Gebaude9
- Sep 30 Poznan, PL – Próżność
- Oct 01 Warsaw, PL – Praga Centrum
- Oct 02 Krakow, PL – Klub Muzyczny Poczta Główna
- Oct 03 Prague, CZ – Futurum
- Oct 04 Munich, DE – Hansa 39
- Oct 05 Pordenone, IT – Capitol
- Oct 06 Rome, IT – Monk
- Oct 07 Milan, IT – Santeria
- Oct 08 Bologna, IT – Covo
- Oct 10 Toulouse, FR – Le Connexion
- Oct 11 Vigo, ES – Master Club
- Oct 12 Lisbon, PT – LAV room 2
- Oct 13 Madrid, ES – La Casa Encendida
- Oct 14 Zaragoza, ES – Jardín de Invierno
- Oct 15 Barcelona, ES – Nitsa Club (La (2) de Apolo)
- Oct 17 Lyon, FR – Epicerie Moderne
- Oct 18 Zurich, CH – Mascotte Club
- Oct 19 Gent, BE – Handelsbeurs
- Oct 20 Lille, FR – Le Grand Mix
- Oct 21 Luxembourg, LU – Kulturfabrik
- Oct 22 Brussels, BE – Beursschouwburg
- Oct 24 Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso Noord
- Oct 25 Nijmegen, NL – Doornroosje
- Oct 26 Groningen, NL – VERA
- Oct 27 London, UK – The Garage
- Oct 28 Amiens, FR – La Lune des Pirates
- Oct 29 Paris, FR – Trabendo
- Nov 09 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
- Nov 10 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
- Nov 11 Washington, DC – The Howard Theatre
- Nov 12 Richmond, VA – The Broadberry
- Nov 13 Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle
- Nov 14 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade (Hell Stage)
- Nov 16 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jack’s
- Nov 17 Houston, TX – Numbers
- Nov 18 Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum Art Co
- Nov 19 Austin, TX – Mohawk
- Nov 21 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
- Nov 25 Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater
- Nov 26 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
- Nov 29 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
- Nov 30 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
- Dec 01 Seattle, WA – Neumos
- Dec 02 Boise, ID – The Olympic
- Dec 03 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
- Dec 04 Denver, CO – The Oriental Theatre
- Dec 06 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
- Dec 07 Chicago, IL – Metro
- Dec 08 Detroit, MI – El Club
- Dec 09 Toronto, ON – The Opera House
- Dec 10 Montreal, QC – S.A.T.
- Dec 11 Boston, MA – The Sinclair
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