Moby's latest release, Wait For Me, doesn't necessarily contain any sounds that we haven't heard from him before. But it does place weight and emphasis on some of the particular ones. As a slow, moody, and textured collection, Wait For Me plays like a more somber and thoughtful version of some of his more successful albums.
Play was unarguably Moby's commercial peak, and found quick fans for its blend of sampled blues, electro polish, brooding strings, and staccato drum tracks. 18 followed a similar path, but placed a greater importance on tracks veering towards reserved melancholy. The path traveled between those two albums finds its ultimate destination with Wait For Me, as the upbeat moments have now been all but stripped away, leaving nothing but a thoughtful and slow electronica tone poem.
Shot In The Back Of The Head from Moby on Vimeo.
The string-laden intro "Division" sets a telling mood for the rest of the album. Its synthesized chamber strings and pads swell and wane, hinting that you might want to settle in for this one. The light drum groove of "Pale Horses", the albums first single, isn't too far off from being as active as things will get. It's a mix of beauty and sadness that will pervade the entire album, but instead of feeling dark or weighty, it has an air of hopeful longing. Its subtle and reserved, but this also makes it prime headphone melancholia.
The backwards guitar of "Shot In The Back Of The Head" helps provide additional texture to the record, as well as place emphasis on the instrumentals as more than just intermissions. Wait For Me is roughly balanced between vocal tracks and instrumental pieces, giving the set as a whole the feel of a soundtrack. This is intensified with the spoken word sample highlighted in the peace-rallying and uplifting "Study War."
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