Punk pioneer and Suicide singer Alan Vega died last summer, and though he had begun focusing more on painting in his final years after a stroke limited his ability to play music, he did take some time to record some songs with his wife, Liz Lamere. Now those songs are being released as part of a posthumous full-length album called IT, with a press release noting that Vega envisioned the music as “both his masterpiece and final statement.”
In that same press release, Lamere says that Vega “believed in his vision and purpose,” and he understood that “we can’t control much of what happens to us, or in our world, but we have free will and the power to go on and stand for what we believe in.” This album seems to be an illustration of that belief, with Lamere also noting that it was inspired by Vega “religiously consuming global news” and taking “frequent late-night walks alone” in New York.
IT will be available on July 14 from Fader, and you can preorder it here. You can also hear the first single, “DTM” (short for “Dead To Me”) at this link.