Moby Wait For Me Review
Follow-up to Last Night returns to Play-era Quiet Side of Electronic
Aug 25, 2009
Though credited as bringing a face to electronic music, during his varied and widely criticized career, Moby has crafted everything from Hi-NRG techno and ambient electronica, to bluesy mood music and post-punk noise.
Drawing inspiration from a speech noir film director David Lynch gave about creating art for art’s sake, Wait For Me plays like a mood piece from a film soundtrack, unconcerned with sales or singles.
Of the new album, Moby wrote on his website: “In making this record i wanted to focus on making something that i loved, without really being concerned about how it might be received by the marketplace. as a result it's a quieter, more melodic, more mournful and more personal record than some of the records i've made in the past”.
Walk With Me Pale Horses
Just as he did ten years ago on his breakthrough album, Play, Moby returns to crafting music that incorporates vintage vocals with strings and low-key beats, a trick that bodes just as well now as it did in 1999. “Study War” could easily slip into Play’s tracklisting without sounding dated.
But, unlike Play which focused heavily on samples, Moby wrote, played and produced this concept album in his New York home studio, engaging local talent and friends to breathe life into his dark lyrics contemplating drugs, death and the movement of time.
Standout tracks include “Pale Horses” a somber tune heavy on synthesized orchestral strings and lyrics filled with longing pain and sadness brought to live by guest vocalist Amelia Ziria Brown. “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.”
Moby strips things down to basic vocals and synthesized strings on “Walk With Me”. Leela James sounds both desperate and humble as she asks the Lord to accompany her.
Along with playing all the instruments, Moby adds his own vocals to “Mistake”, one of the more uptempo tracks on the album. Though he’ll never gain recognition as one of the world’s greatest vocalist, used sparingly, his voice adds depth to his words that come from highly personal experiences.
Hope is Gone
While Wait For Me may be this year’s biggest downer record, Moby has a knack of making music that’s dark and contemplative, while conjuring hope. Wait For Me works best when listened to as a cohesive body of work, allowing all the moods to blend together in one musical experience.
This is a feeling record, one that quickly shifts from beautiful ambient music to an album full of layered sounds that come alive with closer listening through headphones. “A Seated Night” full of strings, a muted choral and soft back beat, and “Hope is Gone” sound different with repeated spins in varied environments.
Full of bluesy ambient tracks more geared to the chillout lounge than the dance floor, Wait For Me, makes a great companion record to Last Night and the perfect comedown record to spin after a night of clubbing.
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