Collecting pieces from the notorious ‘Vega Vault’, the unreleased pile of tracks written before Vega’s death, Mutator is a tantalising taste of what was going on, artistically, with one of pop’s most interesting voices as he moved into his later years. 

Though recorded somewhere in the mid-90s, the overall sound of Mutator is rooted in the early 80s; synth driven electronic loops laced with Vega’s distant, Nic Cave sounding, menacing, vocals.  Intentionally cold in places (‘Nike solider’) and more poppy Kraftwerk/Pet Shop Boys in others (‘Fist’), Mutator holds together as a solid collective of beat driven, menacing, pop songs with a dark, distant, narrative.   Cinematic, layered and highly artistic.