So, Moby is back with another dose of ambiance - 'Wait For Me', a sixteen track offering comprised of sleepy melodies and slow moving symphonies. This, with his title track are everything we've come to expect from Moby over the years, with most of his previous works settling down comfortably in 'Chilled Out' compilations and the like, year after year. Don't get me wrong, it's not one to miss, but there's another track which in my opinion is proving to be a lot more interesting.
The track in question is 'Gone to Sleep', a powerful duet with songstress Kelli Scar, who also works with Moby on aforementioned title track 'Wait for Me'. For someone famed for his individuality and preference to work on his own, Moby's dream-like style plays the perfect partner to Scar's voice and makes you question why he doesn't adopt collaborators more often. The fact that Scar is far from mainstream, (after all, she doesn't have a Wikipedia page), makes this combination altogether more exciting.
What interested me the most was the process in which the duet was born, with New York radio station, NPR, setting Moby the challenge of recording a song in 2 days. Not only did he surprise the station and fans alike by churning out the track in just eight hours, he also took it upon himself to record an acoustic version and still had time to play a personal gig to the station's staff. Now that's dedication.
With inspiration coming from a series of images shown to the artists by photographer Phil Toledano, both Moby and Scar found themselves mesmerized by an image of a man in a trench coat, with his head resembling a storm cloud. They then were faced with a choice of words, with Moby choosing 'Flight' and Scar 'Sunday'. Compiling the image and words, Moby began to play a riff, which in turn resulted in the foundations for 'Gone to Sleep'. The track may have taken turns along the way, and wasn't called 'Flight Sunday' or anything along the lines of, however, the result is something which in my opinion is strangely beautiful.
The track in question is 'Gone to Sleep', a powerful duet with songstress Kelli Scar, who also works with Moby on aforementioned title track 'Wait for Me'. For someone famed for his individuality and preference to work on his own, Moby's dream-like style plays the perfect partner to Scar's voice and makes you question why he doesn't adopt collaborators more often. The fact that Scar is far from mainstream, (after all, she doesn't have a Wikipedia page), makes this combination altogether more exciting.
What interested me the most was the process in which the duet was born, with New York radio station, NPR, setting Moby the challenge of recording a song in 2 days. Not only did he surprise the station and fans alike by churning out the track in just eight hours, he also took it upon himself to record an acoustic version and still had time to play a personal gig to the station's staff. Now that's dedication.
With inspiration coming from a series of images shown to the artists by photographer Phil Toledano, both Moby and Scar found themselves mesmerized by an image of a man in a trench coat, with his head resembling a storm cloud. They then were faced with a choice of words, with Moby choosing 'Flight' and Scar 'Sunday'. Compiling the image and words, Moby began to play a riff, which in turn resulted in the foundations for 'Gone to Sleep'. The track may have taken turns along the way, and wasn't called 'Flight Sunday' or anything along the lines of, however, the result is something which in my opinion is strangely beautiful.
Have a listen and take time to pay attention to the video, filmed in NPR's studio.
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