Sacred Bones Records will release the lost album from Alan Vega, entitled Mutator, on April 23rd. From the late 1950s, through his years in Suicide and up until his death in 2016, Vega was constantly creating. This process led to a wealth of material that didn’t see the light of day immediately when it was recorded, which came to be known as the Vega Vault. Mutator is the first in a series of archival releases from the Vault that will come out on Sacred Bones Records. It was recorded with his long-time collaborator Liz Lamere and discovered in the vault in 2019 by 
both Lamere and his close friend Jared Artaud.
Liz Lamere explains “In all of his artistic expressions Alan had a unique ability to pull from an eclectic mix of cultural references and turn them on their head. If we asked him to to give us a quote about ‘Nike Soldier’ he’d say ‘Do it Just’.”
The video, directed by Jacqueline Castel, channels themes of death and resurrection. Castel explains, “Performer Kris Esfandiari (King Woman, NGHTCRWLR etc.) mutates into punk iconoclast Alan Vega in a karaoke toe-to-toe, set against a reliquary of Vega’s light sculptures and totems from his personal wardrobe, including his famed Champion gloves and beret.”
The record was recorded with Lamere at Vega’s NYC studio from 1995-1996, and it serves as a document of a particularly fertile time in his creative life. At the time of the Mutator sessions, Vega was inspired by what was happening in the streets of New York, not only the hip hop scenes that were exploding throughout the outer boroughs, but also the literal sounds of the streets, the traffic noise and industrial ambience of city living. The final piece was the production job, completed by Lamere and Artaud 25 years after the songs were first captured.
Pre-order Mutator here: https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/products/sbr271-alan-vega-mutator
