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album // Hotel
NME : We haven't
reviewed your album in NME, because while not being bad, it's not
shockingly brilliant either, and there didn't seem any point in
going, 'It's the new Moby album, it's pretty much what you'd expect
it to be, 6/10'. Is that alright with you?
Moby : Oh, that's fine.
- Moby interviewed in the NME, 2
April 2005
I wasn't expecting to instantly like Hotel,
Moby's fifth album proper for Mute. I have loved,
learned to love and occasionally hated Moby's work over the years,
stomached the sudden critical acclaim attained with Play
and accepted the stylistic restlessness that has filled each album;
equally I have ranted vociferously about the ironic 'same-ness'
of some of Richard Melville Hall's work as Moby - the synth
string presets etc that pop up with alarming regularity. I was not
looking forward to Hotel for many reasons - the pressure
to deliver a Play part three, the numerous corporate tie-ins
(such as with über-cool UK hotel chain Malmaison) and record
company promotional activity such as offering a free 'megamix' sampler
of the album to download from the Evening Standard website.
But despite these reservations, I have really enjoyed
Hotel, which has been described as Moby's first sampler-free
album (funny, I thought the thrash metal of Animal Rights
would have held that dubious accolade). One thing for sure, this
does not have the euphoric, uplifting atmosphere of earlier Moby
releases, despite the single 'Lift Me Up', and in fact is positively
a more reflective and mature album.
'Hotel Intro' is a sub two minute atmospheric electronica
teaser with those aforementioned string sounds, but just as you
think to yourself 'I'm sure I've stayed at this hotel before', it
cuts into the fast-paced snare and piano rock of 'Raining Again',
an energetic but saddening track featuring some pedal steel-esque
country guitar hooks. 'Sadness like water raining down' is
a moving line, and Moby's fragile vocal gives the track a plaintive,
downbeat air. 'Beautiful' is a sludgy funk groove - 'Look at
us we're beautiful / All the people push and pull / They'll never
get inside / We've got too much to hide' sings Moby in one of
this album's rare defiant, triumphant moments.
'Where You End' starts off with a melancholy air
with strummed guitars and Vince Clarke-style synths bordering
on Lightning Seeds cheese before a house rhythm kicks in, its plangent
vibe recalling 'Dirty Epic' by Underworld. New Order's 'Temptation'
is rendered even more fragile still as a slow, sparse ballad delivered
by singer Laura Dawn. This is followed by next single 'Spiders'.
'Dream About Me', predominantly sung with Dawn,
has an early eighties synthpop feel. Maudlin strings and simple,
classic Moby piano frills colour this beautiful track. 'Very' is
a surprise, one of the best Moby pure house tracks for a long while,
a solid 4/4 groove with a hypnotic, liquid synth disco bass line
and wispy, Goldfrapp-esque vocals from Dawn. 'I Like It' is slow,
sensual trip-hop style electronica with some Orb-esque bubbling
dub noises and breathy vocals from Moby and Dawn. It has a deep,
chilled and atmospheric edge with some excellent sounds.
'Love Should' is one track which feels very familiar,
in so far as it begins with ruminative piano and a simple beat,
and then develops into a shimmering and absorbing ballad with gentle
electric guitar washes with a saddening, albeit heart-meltingly
gorgeous chorus. 'Open to everything happy and sad' and 'Hoping
the sun will at least look at me' are two of 'Slipping Away's
most depressing lyrics. This is a pretty miserable, but heartfelt
track with a subtle mix that emphasises Moby's world-weary vocal
of loved ones leaving us.
By track 13, the sparse ballad 'Forever', you're
starting to feel like you a) can't really take much more of Hotel's
introverted, maudlin hushed tones and b) that you wish it was about
3 songs shorter, but 'Forever's New Order-esque guitar melodies
are worth persevering for. 'Homeward Angel' (a five minute version
of a ten minute track available over on Hotel : Ambient which
accompanies this disc) is a typically beautiful Moby instrumental
presumably designed for satellites drifting through space. An unlisted
track (which iTunes has labelled '35 Minutes') rounds off Hotel,
an ambient cousin to the 33.33 mix of 'Hymn' from way back in the
day, all deep chords and melodic grandeur.
No doubt about it, the NME's typically short-sighted
comment above totally misses the fact that Hotel is a mature,
focussed and refeshingly consistent fifth album from Moby. He could
easily have continued to tread the path to easy fame that commenced
with the surprise hit Play and continued with 18.
Still no signs of a return to 4/4 'hands in the air' Moby of the
early 90s, but this is well worth checking out (or should that be
checking in?).
single // Lift Me Up
Breaking away from the laidback grooves of his previous
two albums, 'Lift Me Up' combines two particular strands of Moby's
work - rock and euphoric dance. It's been a long time since Moby
offered anything quite so upbeat and ecstatic, but 'Lift Me Up'
is just that. Overall it doesn't sound a million miles away - at
times - from Electronic's 'Getting Away With It' with its melodic
strings; Scott Frassetto's drums and the assembled gospel
vocals of Brian Sperder, Jason Chandler, Kurt Uenala, Orion Simprini
and Shayna Steele keep this firmly in the 'hands in the air' school
of rapturous house. Moby's vocal style is typically deadpan, ruminative
until he gets joyous on the chorus. It's probably the best thing
I've heard Moby put out for years - just as I was contemplating
not bothering to track down his records anymore.
CD1 includes a radio mix of 'Lift Me Up' and a new
track, the atmospheric instrumental ambient-techno 'Mulholland',
here in edited form (though still over six minutes long), since
released on a rare 10" in its full length form. Despite his
NYC club heritage, Moby's ability to produce credible dance music
has been patchy, probably since 1993's 'Move' - this again restores
faith.
CD2 contains the remixes, as well as Digimpro PC
software to remix 'Lift Me Up'. Anyone remember 'Feeling So Real',
taken from Everything Is Wrong? This included samples from
the next single, 'Everytime You Touch Me', and a competition with
a £1000 prize to submit your own remix. How times change.
Mixes come from producer du jour Mylo, Etienne de Crecy (AKA Superdiscount)
and Abe Duque. Mylo goes for slinky, sexy noises and beats, while
Superdiscount goes for minimal, clipped electro-house. Abe Duque
gives us a funky house version with a constant feeling that the
burbling bassline is any second likely to develop into a throbbing
nest of 303s...and that's exactly what happens nearly five minutes
in. There is also the album version, which is just a bit longer,
and a bit more stop-start. There is also a radio edit of the Etienne
de Crecy version, erroneously credited to Duque.
[The 12" includes a dub of the Abe Duque remix].
2003
single // Spiders | iTunes
: buy this single
Apparently, 'Spiders' - the second single from Moby's
Hotel - is about David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders
From Mars. If it is, I don't see how. The chorus includes the lines
'Let peace and beauty reign / And bring us love again / Like
you can', so perhaps Moby is now deifying Bowie over Jesus (such
a naughty Christian), but I think the claim is dubious. In any case,
'Spiders' is a anthemic rock song with a soaring chorus and melancholy
air. The two-track CD includes a single remix, which has more of
an insistent, dirty groove and a radio friendly vibe. The original
version (available on the 7" and second CD) is slightly softer
and the beat is less prominent. In a historic day, at least for
me, I opted to purchase 'Spiders' from iTunes rather than 'physical'
- alas, I have come to accept my wife's gentle reasoning that I
have too many CDs on the shelf.
The B-side 'It's OK' (on the first CD) is built
on a retro Warp / Aphex rhythm with Moby's trademark symphonic string
sounds providing the atmospheric melody. 'Put The Headphones On',
over on CD2, is a chilled-out slice of electronic driven onward
by a simple bass melody. Think Artificial Intelligence / Chill Out
Or Die-era ambient. Mute's favourite remixer du jour,
Ewan Pearson, provides an excellent reworking of 'Raining Again'
('Raining Again' was released as a single in the US and Europe),
bringing a simple two-note chiming riff in over an urgent beat.
Taking a rock track and turning it into a shimmering hard house
beast is clearly effortless for the consistently excellent Pearson.
Moby also released a limited edition 7", which
if you ask me is pretty pointless since it contains the album versions
of 'Spiders' and New Order's 'Temptation'. And I did opt to buy
the physical version of that, and I am appropriately miffed.
7":
A. Spiders
B. Temptation
CD:
1. Spiders (Radio Edit)
2. It's OK
LCD:
1. Spiders
2. Put The Headphones On
3. Raining Again (Ewan Pearson Vocal)
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