Dancing In Manhattan - Moby

‘Last Night’ is evidently much more preoccupied with art and music than much of Moby’s previous work.  Whereas ‘Play’ contained five essays in the sleeve on veganism, fundamentalism and humanitarianism, and 2005’s ‘Hotel’ was preoccupied with love and loss, ‘Last Night’ not only musically explores a party, but also playfully invokes rock and roll through the semi-naked, nubile models on the album cover.  Moby explains that he chose the artwork partly in homage to Hulmut Newton, a fashion photographer from the 1970s, and partly because he “figured people would much rather look at beautiful women on the cover than a 42 year old bald guy.”

The absence of opinionated commentary on the album might well come as a response to the criticism Moby has received in recent years in response to his beliefs.  His outspoken nature has riled more than a few critics in his time.  I ask Moby about this, and he is resigned and detached, but there is still a hurt questioning about his response when he replies, “some people seem to like me and some people seem to hate my guts, which is strange.  I mean, it’s a very strange phenomenon being hated by people you’ve never met.  Every now and then someone will forward me a review or something, and it will be by some journalist that just seems to hate me and everything I do, and it’s disconcerting because I’ve never met this person.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me that I can inspire such loathing in people I’ve never met.

“It seems a particular problem in the UK,” Moby continues, of his critics, “because a lot of people in the UK seem to think I’m some kind of self-righteous moralist, and actually nothing could be further from the truth. In terms of being self-righteous about veganism or whatever, I challenge anyone to find anything I’ve said in the last ten years that’s self-righteous or moralising.  I mean I am honest, I am outspoken about politics, but if you go to any bar you can find a drunkard that’s self righteous about politics.”  I quietly point out that your average bar-prop isn’t capable of transmitting his views to millions through the medium of music, but Moby simply reiterates, “I have no problem if people hate me, but it seems a little strange when people hate me for the wrong reasons.”

Moby attributes the absence of political opinion on ‘Last Night’ to the capacity of the modern world to transmit news and raise political awareness without interference from musicians like himself.  But it might be that he’s reluctant to provoke the critics, too.  He can’t even muster a bad word to say about the music industry, saying of the leakage of his album, “I’m of the opinion that being upset about the changes in the music business is kind of like being upset at the weather.  If an album’s leaked it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.  It bothers the record company and I don’t like to bother the record company because they’re my friends, but at the end of the day all I ever really care about is that people get the chance to listen to music.”

Of himself, humility is the order of the day.  His chosen epitaph as “a bald musician from the lower east side of New York that makes records in his bedroom” is almost infuriatingly modest, and unlikely to placate his critics.  But his latest long-player, with its disco preoccupations and playful emphasis, just might.