Moby launched
Always Centered at Night as a digital imprint in 2022, aiming to collaborate with lesser-known vocalists he admires, in order to create music without commercial expectations. He wants the project's output to be the type of music people discover on their own, preferring a small but passionate audience to the sort of cultural ubiquity
Play had decades earlier. Several singles culminated in the 2024 release of the full-length
Always Centered at Night, issued by
Moby's longtime home
Mute. Considering that
Moby has released defiantly non-commercial music such as his long-form ambient/drone works (like the stellar
Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep.) and the minimalist techno 12"s of his short-lived side label
Trophy Records,
Always Centered at Night actually sounds much closer to his pop-minded albums, except that he doesn't sing any of the songs. (Nothing against
Moby's own voice, but the guest vocalists are welcome, considering that they all sound much better than him.) The title nods to his longstanding passion for club culture, and while this is certainly an electronic album, with hardly any obvious rock influences, it's not strictly made up of dance tracks, either. Stirring opener "on air" features
serpentwithfeet, an ideal match for the song's drifting beat, rhythmic handclaps, and haunting vocal samples. Several other songs showcase bluesy, gospel-inspired vocals, often over tasteful disco/house grooves, with highlights including the crackling, slightly psychedelic "wild flame" (featuring
Danaé Wellington), the yearning deep house of "feelings come undone" (with
Raquel Rodriguez), and the slow-burning boogie of "should sleep" (featuring
JP Bimeni). Two tracks surprisingly dip into drum'n'bass rhythms, a genre
Moby has only occasionally touched in the past, and usually on obscure B-sides. The socially conscious but not explicitly political "where is your pride?" features one of the final performances by revolutionary dub poet
Benjamin Zephaniah (like
Moby, a longtime vegan and animal rights activist), while the tense "medusa" features returning collaborator
Aynzli Jones.
Gaidaa contributes the lovely trip-hop cut "transit," and the intoxicating "fall back" (featuring
Akemi Fox) deserves mention as well.
José James, easily the album's most famous guest star, closes the record with "ache for," a
Nat King Cole-style jazz ballad that soars with emotional intensity. For an album that spans multiple styles and features a different guest vocalist on every song,
Always Centered at Night is consistently passionate and spiritual. ~ Paul Simpson
