Moby: Wait For Me, 2009 Album Review
Featuring Division, Pale Horses, Shot in the Back of the Head
Jul 1, 2009
First thing’s first. Moby’s ninth studio album is a downer.
It’s not suitable for the club scene, or for working out at the gym. This unique brand of melancholic electronica is best saved for times when one feels like crap and is quite content to stay that way. Having said that, Wait For Me might just be Moby’s best yet.
While its 16 tracks are all somewhat distinct from each another, the album was written and composed as a complete piece. Songs comment and compliment each other, and as a whole, it all makes sense. Before its release, Moby insisted that the album was intended to be heard, “as a cohesive body of work.” Mission accomplished.
David Lynch’s Influence on Moby
Inspired by a speech given by David Lynch on the subject of artists and creativity, Moby focused his attention on making a record he loved without concern of how it would be received commercially. The result is a melodic, somber, and mournful album that is distinctly personal (and worthy of the Twin Peaks soundtrack).
Wait for Me is the sound of an end-of-party letdown, an after-hours soundtrack in which everything sounds fragile and cracked.
Wait For Me Songs
The record begins with “Division,” a two-minute long sweeping instrumental piece that floats along with breathy synthetic strings.
“Pale Horses,” continues to set the tone for the record with a mournful female voice singing, “Put me on the train, send me back to my home/Couldn’t live without you when I tried to roam/Put me by the window, let me see outside/Looking at the places where all my family died.”
The first single from the album, ‘Shot In The Back Of The Head’ is a moody instrumental piece whose video was directed by David Lynch.
“JItf” is a radiant track that blends calculated piano with woebegone lyrics. Its ambiance is dark and ethereal.
“Walk with Me” continues by utilizing vocals that sound almost like weeping.
“Hope is Gone” is a deliberate ballad that slowly builds, “Ghost” and “Slow Light” are sadly bleak, and “Isolate” concludes the record with a tone similar to “Shot in the Back of the Head,” only with less animation.
Moby's Most Personal Album
What Moby has created with Wait For Me is intensely personal. While the tone of the album’s songs are consistently contemplative, and extraordinarily dark, as a whole they represent a piece of music that is the most conscientious Moby has created in years.
He has dialed down the weaker parts of his oeuvre (his voice, which is almost absent on the album, and occasionally flippant lyrics) in favor of his strengths: touchingly beautiful melodies and a homemade, personal feel for everything.
Moby consciously decided to compose a much more introspective, mournful collection, with the intent of demonstrating a greater personal commitment to his work. The result is thoughtful and elegant, ominous and fragile. While it may be Moby's darkest record yet, Wait For Me serves as an optimistic sign that Moby's independent creative juices are still flowing. And Thank God for it.
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