Moby – Innocents

ap130923Moby_Innocents_cover

Like many of Moby’s biggest singles (which is, essentially, my full exposure to Moby), there is a lot of repetition on Innocents. That’s not a good or a bad thing, necessarily – there is often a lot of repetition within songs when it comes to electronic music – but when the album is over an hour long, it can make some of those songs easy to ignore. In that case, listening expectations have to be tweaked a bit. Innocents is largely devoid of bombast, with notable exceptions being “The Perfect Life” (with Wayne Coyne), an uplifting clap-and-sing-a-long that feels a bit overblown, and “Don’t Love Me” (with Inyang Bassey), a dated-sounding slow-burning romp and low-point on the record. The softer, cooler tracks on the album are where it really shines. “Almost Home” (with Damien Jurado), aptly sounds like waking from a soft, breezy dream, carrying you along with the coda, “so let it go, wake up, wake up, wake up, we’re almost home.” “Saints” is all kinds of cinematic, driven by the sort of strings that would find our hero in the midst of a world-saving sacrifice, soulful, otherworldly vocals resonating just under a driving beat. Nearly ten-minutes long closer “The Dogs” caps it all off, sparse and quiet at first, eventually plunging headfirst into a hyper-dramatic, orchestral swirl. Even though it’s running length can make it a bit forgettable overall, Innocents is full of stunning moments. (Arts & Crafts, moby.com) Matt Williams

 

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