Last Night
By:
Moby
Label:
Mute
Written by:
Maisie
Rating:
6/10
The bald, animal-loving New Yorker returns to nineties dance music with his new album. Last Night displays glimmers of promise as Moby moves away from his recent offerings in favour of a nostalgic take on nightlife in the city that never sleeps.
Moby has so far failed to replicate the success of 1999’s Play and this album shows he may have learnt something from his mistakes. Though following such a commercial success was always going to be a mean feat, Moby proved less effective as a strumming front man than a dance floor DJ. As the sleeve notes explain, Last Night is a concept album that aims to tell not only the story of a night out in New York, but also, to encapsulate 25 years of nights out in the Big Apple. I guess when you’ve already sold 10 million albums you’ve got to aim high, haven’t you?
The album establishes its retro pedigree from the off with the disco diva vocals of Oh Yeah. Similarly, I Love To Move In Here is a classic soulful house tune with Balearic influences. The rapper’s delight, Grandmaster Caz, gives the track a hip-hop-house edge to add to its base in the party isle. There is no subtlety in Every Day It’s 1989: both feet are firmly in dance music’s past. He could have sacked off the rest of the album and told his tale of clubland with this single offering. The tune is Moby on his knees paying homage to the late eighties and early nineties and New York’s mega clubs of yesteryear.
There are other splashes of up-tempo fun: I’m In Love starts with a wicked baseline and then introduces a classic breathy female voice. It’s a sexy come-to-bed track that nods to the chillout around the corner. Unfortunately, that chillout is a little disappointing. Moby dedicates the last 20 minutes to a piano heavy come down which makes it is easy forget the earlier excitement. 25 years of partying seem have tired Moby out as the recovery is given almost as much precedence as the party. It is a chilling reminder of the real world: dawn on a Monday morning.
This record is not really electronic music for the 21st Century, but referencing the past is not necessarily a bad thing. The spokes of the musical fashion wheel often manage to re-emerge unblemished from the water. Last Night can be appreciated for its nostalgia, even if you were at nursery the first time around. It’s just a shame Moby doesn’t bring some of the tracks more up-to-date.