There are shimmering instrumentals, dark ballads, and uplifting, gospel-tinged hoedowns. So, despite the list of guest names, Innocents is certainly a good example of the trademark Moby sound. There’s also a long list of guest vocalists, ranging from the surprising (US singer/songwriter Damien Jurado and grunge icon Mark Lanegan) to ones who seem such a perfect fit, it’s surprising they having collaborated before, such as The Flaming Lips‘ Wayne Coyne. Those people who know Spent’s name will know that this will not signal any radical change of direction for Moby – he’s previously worked with the likes of Massive Attack, Beyoncé and Madonna, so he would seem tailor-made for Moby’s brand of cinematic, melancholic electronica. Innocents, his eleventh studio album, has the feel of a new start, representing as it does the first time he’s worked with a producer, Mark ‘Spike’ Spent. In recent years, there’s been a definite feeling of treading water, leading to a need for some kind of creative rebirth.
Moby has never quite managed to repeat his Play heyday, while still releasing a steady stream of respectably well selling albums. Yet, as with most things, familarity soon bred comtempt, as it quickly became difficult to escape Play, reaching a nadir when one news organisation chose the ambient beauty of Porcelain to soundtrack its report on the burning towers and falling bodies on 11 September 2001. For, suddenly, Moby was everywhere, thanks in no small part to the revolutionary notion of licensing every single track to be used in adverts, films and television shows. Play, of course, made Richard Melville Hall a household name, but at a cost. Pre-1999, he was the epitome of New York cool (with, admittedly, the lack of record sales that represented), sampling the Twin Peaks soundtrack, sprinkling his own form of remix gold-dust over the likes of Michael Jackson and Pet Shop Boys, and becoming unlikely touring buddies with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden.
In retrospect, it was Play that both made and broke Moby.
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