The critically acclaimed Moby releases another album on Mute Records with ‘Hotel’. Moby has been a pioneer in music having created some classics tunes like ‘Go’ and the well-received album ‘Play’ has propelled Moby into the popular mainstream.
‘Hotel’ is a reaction to the new wave scene and draws a lot on influence from guitar music from the 80’s and draws some inspiration from bands like Joy Division. We can certainly see this from Moby’s
latest release ‘Lift Me Up’ that has a full band energy and incorporates synthesiser sounds to maintain an electro feel. It wouldn’t be Moby without that progressive touch he’s famous for using technology to enhance some of the tunes but there is a lot of use of guitar that in my opinion works very well like on tracks like ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Spiders’. There are also slow tunes like ‘Temptation’ that is very soothing and hypnotic, as well as ‘Forever’ that is really spiritually deep. ‘Hotel’ seems to half two halves, the first being more of a instant live band sound and second being more ambient. I have to say that all the tracks are well arranged in a clever way to create atmosphere in the songs. Moby’s vocals are deep and honest and the female vocals that are featured on some of the tracks are really good. The use of piano is very effective as well.
I really liked this album. I think there’s a lot of diversity in the songs that range from the seductive to the more instant. It’s a well-rounded album that takes you on a journey and is deep, soulful and broods along. It makes sense on an intelligent level and captivates the mood of the times. I doubt it will make as much of an impression as ‘Play’ did but for those looking for a melancholy sound or a sensitive after club album to happily soothe the soul should like it.
