The Soft Moon’s Luis Vasquez Dies at 44

Luis Vasquez, whose one-man project the Soft Moon released a string of beloved albums for Captured Tracks and Sacred Bones, has died, a representative confirmed to Pitchfork. No cause of death was given. Vasquez was 44 years old.

Born in Los Angeles, Vasquez started out playing in punk bands before founding the Soft Moon project in the late 2000s, inspired by the dark minimalism of bands like Suicide and Joy Division, as well as the music of his Afro-Cuban heritage. He released his debut single, “Breathe the Fire,” on Captured Tracks in 2010, and a self-titled full-length later that year. On his subsequent run of albums, Vasquez moved around Europe—to the Italian mountains for 2015’s Deeper and Berlin for his 2018 Sacred Bones debut, Criminal. The last Soft Moon record of his lifetime, Exister, arrived in 2022.