Fly Away From The Apocalypse

Not that he's ever really been away, but Moby is back with a new single, Dark Days, featuring the husky tones of Lady Blackbird.

 

Don't expect deep lyrical meaning here: there are references to Shangri La, the apocalypse and "going down below", bridged with lots of mmmms. That said, a little mmmm from Lady Blackbird goes a long way.

 

Musically, it follows the classic Moby template: strong female vocals, an infectious, groovy bassline and emotive synth strings. If you like Moby's music, it'll hit the spot. If you're unmoved or unfamiliar, it's unlikely to convert you. 

 

Dark Days is in fact the fifth single (at least) in the past 18 months to be lifted from forthcoming album Always Centred At Night. This may give a faint whiff of 1999 album Play, which saw multiple singles and every one of it's 17 tracks licensed for use in other media. 

 

One of the main differences here appears to be that whilst Play was heavy on sampled vocals and, let's face it, instrumental tracks that felt a little like unfinished ideas or sketches, Always Centred At Night features guest vocals on all but one of its 13 tracks.

 

The roster is impressive. In addition to US born, UK based Lady Blackbird, there's Aynzli Jones, previously featured on 2008 single Alice and who operates between London, Los Angeles and Kingston, Jamaica. Artist Gaidaa is Dutch born and of Sudanese heritage. JP (Jean Patrick) Bimeni was born in Burundi, a refugee teenager and student in Camarthen, now based in London and fronting The Black Belts. And there's an appearance from "Refugee Boy" author and legendary poet, Benjamin Zephaniah, who sadly passed in December last year.

 

Including the singles, a total of eight songs from Always Centred At Night are available ahead of the album release in June, including an intriguing cover of Cream's 1967 song We're Going Wrong, featuring another previous Moby collaborator Brie O'Banion.

 

Here's a live version of the original, sung by Jack Bruce and first featured halfway through side 2 of Cream's second album Disraeli Gears.

If that's not enough new Moby music for you, last month he also released a standalone single on the Defected label. You & Me is a team up with Italian electronic artist Anfisa Letyago. It's another understated minimal techno rumbler, released as a 4-track EP with remixes from Deetron, Girls Of The Internet and the self-described "bald alien" himself.