The Soft Moon - Criminal

Released in 2018 via Sacred Bones Records, Criminal is the fourth and most personal studio album from the late Luis Vasquez. Recorded in his then-new home of Berlin, the album serves as a sonic exorcism of the trauma, guilt, and self-hatred stemming from a violent childhood in the Mojave Desert. While previous Soft Moon records often buried Vasquez’s vocals under layers of reverb and dissonance, Criminal pushes his voice—and his pain—directly to the forefront.

Musically, the album maintains the project’s signature post-punk and krautrock pulse but leans more heavily into industrial rock and EBM. Tracks like "Burn" and "Like a Father" are fueled by jagged synths and punishing percussion, while the title track closes the record with a suffocating, atmospheric tension that underscores the album's theme of internal warfare.