Like It Always Does

Happy birthday to Richard Melville Hall aka Moby, born 11th September 1965.

Whether you're aware of Moby as a musician, vegan, Christian, baldie, animal rights campaigner or a complete and utter twonk, it's hard to think of another artist that has combined all of these elements so successfully.

I was a huge fan of Moby's music throughout the 1990s and enjoyed the twists and turns of his career. Yes, I was one of the 472 people who bought his thrash metal (kind of) album Animal Rights on release in 1996. And liked it.

I haven't followed every release since then, but I have enjoyed the occasional dip back into Moby's 21st century albums. I must revisit Innocents from 2013, which I recall as being pretty good. 

The last Moby album I acquired was Everything Was Beautiful, And Nothing Hurt in 2018 and, apart from the You & Me EP with Anfisa Letyago in 2024, I've pretty much no idea what he's released in this decade.

That said, I've still managed to come up with a (mostly) 21st century selection, ten songs moving from metal to machines and back again, also serving to showcase the vocal talents that Moby has collaborated with over the years. 

With the exception of Mark Lanegan, all female singers and likely ones that are undeservedly unfamiliar. Mindy Jones is a long-time musical partner of Moby, whilst others such as Rozz Morehead and Erin Marszalek made fleeting but significant appearances.

I've also thrown in a few remixes, courtesy of Torsten Stenzel, Photek and Moby himself.

Ten songs, all done and dusted in three quarters of an hour, just enough and not too much.

Have a good one, Moby.

1) E2D (Outtake From 'Play') (1999)

2) Don't Love Me (Album Version ft. Mindy Jones & Inyang Bassey) (2013)

3) Spiders (Album Version) (2005)

4) Porcelain (Torsten Stenzel's Edited Remix) (2000)

5) Move (Electro Mix By Moby ft. Rozz Morehead & Carole Sylvan) (1993)

6) Extreme Ways (Single Version) (2002)

7) Ooh Yeah (Album Version ft. Erin Marszalek & Luci Butler) (2008)

8) Come On Baby (Single Edit)

9) You & Me (Extended Mix) (Moby x Anfisa Letyago) (2024)

10) The Lonely Night (Photek Remix ft. Mark Lanegan & Mindy Jones) (2013)

1993: Move - The Mixes EP: 5

1996: Come On Baby EP: 8

2000: Porcelain EP: 4

2002: Extreme Ways EP: 6

2003: 18 DVD: Outtakes & Bonus Songs: 1

2005: Hotel: 3

2008: Last Night: 7

2013: Innocents: 2

2013: The Lonely Night EP: 10

2024: You & Me EP: 9

Like It Always Does (46:05) (GD) (M)

As it's Moby's birthday, here's some more Dubhed selections from the archives:

Another Green World (1999 mixtape, posted Jan 2023)

Kaleidoscopic Mind (2000 gig setlist, posted Feb 2026)

Somewhere Around (random selection, posted July 2022)

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.