By Ashton Chugh
Moby’s new album Innocents, a collaboration with several different artists, is not anything radically different from his previous work that audiences have come to know.
There are a lot of slow, random electronic instruments that give “Everything That Rises,” “A Case For Shame,” “Almost Home” and “Going Wrong” a mystical feel, which is all very typical of what I have come to expect from Moby. These tracks are definitely chill with their soft vocals and are great if you want to get lost in the moment.
After these comes a bunch of tracks that have no linear path and seem to be arbitrarily placed on the album according to Moby’s unknown purposes. “Last Day” gave me the feeling of wandering in an unknown urban setting.
My favourite song was “Don’t Love Me.” Picture a smoky basement jazz club with an African American gal with a cool afro pouring her soul into the microphone — that’s this song featuring Inyang Bassey. But I have to admit that this song and my preference for jazz music just jived perfectly.
The last two songs, “The Lonely Night” and “The Dogs” serve as the awkward end to the album. In the “The Lonely Night,” singer Mark Lanegan’s voice gives a creepy overtone that actually gave me the feeling of walking alone down an alleyway on a cold dark night. “The Dogs” is the perfect song to put on before you go to sleep — it’s monotone and slow.
Overall, I would recommend that you give Innocents a listen even if you aren’t a Moby fan. It’s something different that is a nice way to break up the overplayed club jams on the radio.