Liz Lamere Shares New Track from Debut Album

Liz Lamere collaborated with her late partner Alan Vega (Suicide) for over three decades on his solo work, and starting out playing drums in punk bands. Now, the powerhouse NYC-based artist is set to release her debut solo album, Keep It Alive, due May 20th via In The Red.

Today, Lamere shares the album's second single, "Freedom's Last Call," which lashes the insidiously booming Moroder-meets-Blade Runner bassline with jaggedly ominous washes of drifting sound.

"This track emerged from the post-apocalyptic vibe around all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and the political, social and media-driven upheaval and divisiveness," notes Lamere. "Uncertainty of certainty. Freedom is the most elemental part of the human condition, which is now being assaulted from so many directions. The song is a call for unity and redemption, and about having one shot to keep hope, humanity and free will alive."

Prior to "Freedom's Last Call," she shared "Lights Out," the album opener which hits hard with brutal electronic drums, intense and poetic vocals, countered by dynamic textures and melodic synth riffs.

The track - which was shared by the likes of Brooklyn Vegan, Punk News, Fused Magazine and more - channels the upfront positive spirit and deftly-brandished aggression that imbues the whole album. It also came along with the powerful boxing-focused video, directed by Jenni Hensler and filmed at Trinity Boxing Club in NYC.

All of the music and lyrics on Keep It Alive were written and performed by Liz Lamere. It was recorded in her lower Manhattan apartment during lockdown, engineered by her and Alan's son Dante Vega Lamere in the same space where the Suicide singer constructed his light sculptures.

They emerged with a riveting set of songs that are charged with irrepressible lust for life and the feel for the contagious hook. The album was then co-produced and mixed by Jared Artaud and Liz Lamere, with Ted Young engineering the mixing sessions and Josh Bonati mastering.

"There's something very magical about creating music in the same environment where Alan created his visual art," notes Liz. "His energy is pervasive and is inevitably infused in the recordings." She continues " We were living through unprecedented times and Keep It Alive took adversity and uncertainty and turned it into a message of resilience and empowerment."

The album courses with the defiant energy that motivated Liz through her early double life as both a lawyer and downtown New York musician before meeting and falling in love with Vega led to her becoming his manager, creative foil and keyboard manipulator on solo albums beginning in 1990 (Deuce Avenue, Power On To Zero Hour, New Raceion, Dujang Prang, 2007, Station, IT) and recently released lost album Mutator that launched the Vega Vault she curates with Jared Artaud.

After Vega passed away in July 2016, Liz found it cathartic writing down thoughts and observations in notebooks. Simultaneously, she and Artaud started collaborating, overseeing the mastering of IT and then co-producing and mixing Mutator; and during this time they naturally discussed an alliance on the solo album she knew would be forthcoming.

Keep It Alive is an homage to a song on Alan's New Raceion album that has significant meaning for Lamere. It was one of the key lines she would chant on stage, becoming a staple of live performances with Alan.

The vision behind the album is about preserving your own inner fire. Liz commented "Alan always encouraged me to make my own music, and I've waited until the time was right as I've been dedicated to preserving Alan's vision and building his legacy." It's high time to turn up the burner!

Listen to the new single here:

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