Moby – Wait For Me

Moby - Wait For Me

As I begin this write up of Moby’s eighth studio album I have to confess I’ve yet to be able to listen to it all the way through (remedying that as I type obviously) – the first time I put it on it bored me so I quit after six songs and I’ve only managed a couple more of the whole 16 since. I’m still unmoved by last year’s Last Night, having failed to play that more than a couple of times before moving on but 2005’s Hotel, after initial indifference, has proved to be an excellent iPod album and one I constantly find myself needing to consult the device’s screen about when a track comes on.

So then – why has this latest effort so far left me cold?

In keeping with Moby’s statement that “it’s a quieter and more melodic and more mournful and more personal record” than he’s made recently track one, ‘Division’, is just under two minutes of inoffensive strings. Inoffensive to the point of being forgettable. ‘Pale Horses’ is of the more trademarked anthem-with-blues-vocals style initially created to world dominating effect on the Play album, albeit the vocals here sound live rather than sampled from an old 45 or 78 but it’s a close call. Either way the track’s dull. First single ‘Shot In The Back Of The Head’ is hopefully enlivened by it’s David Lynch-directed video as it passes over you so unobtrusively that I had to play it again due to sending a text.

Definite background music, although not quite ready to be piped into lifts just yet. Four songs in and we are definitely back in Play/18 territory – ‘Study War’ could well be on an advert near you in a very short space of time. Well meaning and clearly anti-war but hardly likely to actually bring peace in our time it ultimately becomes boringly repetitive. Moby seems here to have become a cliché of his own once innovative composing.

Having skipped the next two tracks to stay awake things perk up markedly on ‘Mistake’ which sees the man himself singing in a vein that definitely qualifies as personal. Melancholic but upbeat this would definitely have been a better choice for the first single. As it closes it really rocks out and should have the crowds in raptures on the mooted upcoming tour. ‘Scream Pilots’ starts off promisingly too but ultimately is an instrumental nothing.’Jltf1′ and ‘Jltf’ pass by almost unnoticed and didn’t inspire me to find out what the acronym stands for. ‘A Seated Night’ might have been better titled ‘A Sedated Night’ – the snare on it promises something raucous is in the wings but nothing actually ever replaces the soaring vocals and strings wash. With five tracks to go I’m back to skipping forward. ‘Hope Is Gone’ is a decent number that put me in mind of Regina Spektor but the remainder all once more merit no individual comments. Ultimately this is, as a whole, a pretty second rate chill out album from someone who has done much better but probably doesn’t really need to any longer – one truly good song out of 16 sees me leaving Moby behind rather than waiting.