Moby, aka Richard Melville Hall, takes his on-stage alias from being an ancestral relation of Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick. To some however, he is remembered for fully licensing his breakthrough album, Play, to be used in movies, television shows, and commercials. The record became an inescapable soundtrack, selling everything from high end golfing gear to baked beans. Yet to criticise Play for this reason is to misunderstand Moby's achievement in the first place, making a quirky gospel sampling electronica record a phenomenal commercial success.
Over a career spanning eight studio albums this multi-instrumentalist has never been afraid to experiment, whether it be the pioneering progressive house single Go, earning a top ten spot in the UK charts, or dark punk release, Animal Rights, which nearly ended his career altogether. The upcoming ninth effort, Destroyed, sees a return to his pre-Play, early '90s bedroom-based creativity.
By using vintage analogue equipment and minimalist production, his new material captures the opposing senses of anxious isolation and quiet solitude felt while touring the world. Similar in theme to 2005's Hotel, Moby introduces the unexplored side of touring including secluded time spent in airports and backstage waiting areas, not to mention the hotel rooms where these songs were written late at night while surrounding cities were asleep.
This idea of isolation while being surrounded by others comes across in the atmospheric yet melodic Be The One, a nocturnally influenced preview EP consisting of three tracks from the upcoming album. To accompany each of the pieces is a short video further illustrating the strange and sublime world of touring. Destroyed gets its full release on May 16th along with a book of photography Moby has taken throughout his career, giving a fantastic glimpse into his world. You can download the full EP from Moby.com.
Words: Simon Butcher
Be The One from Moby on Vimeo.
5:14 AM | 07/03/2011
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