Reprise

by Moby

Overview

Looking back on 30 years as one of America's most prominent electronic musicians, Moby made a surprise move to reimagine classics from his lengthy catalog as orchestral and acoustic reworkings. Inspired by a 2018 performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, he delivered Reprise, a triumphant career retrospective that breathes new life into familiar hits and deep cuts. Reaching all the way back to his 1992 debut, Moby amplifies his percussion-heavy breakthrough single "Go" into a dramatic tribal raver, while Everything Is Wrong's cosmic "God Moving Over the Face of the Water" expands even further with the grandiose backing of Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson. The best of the instrumentals on Reprise, however, is the de facto overture "Everloving," whose cinematic sweep is absolutely breathtaking. In fact, this and the other tracks selected from his 1999 magnum opus Play are the most effective transformations here, allowing that album's soul- and gospel-heavy sampling to organically draw out the emotion and humanity on this project. The mournful "Natural Blues" is a showstopper, elevating the original's melancholy to stirring effect as Gregory Porter and Amythyst Kiah lament, "Oh Lordy, my trouble's so hard." The plaintive reflections on "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" benefit from the soulful vocals of Apollo Jane, Deitrick Haddon, and gospel choir the Samples, descending into pain before hope shines a light with the inspirational chorus. And while the ethereal "Porcelain" merges a wounded duet between Moby and My Morning Jacket's Jim James, the true heft is found in the expansive orchestral arrangement, which pulls aside the veil to reveal a grandeur at which the original only hinted. These varying degrees of pain and catharsis are at the heart of Reprise, manifesting in a vulnerable reworking of David Bowie's "Heroes," a version that Moby notes he played with his late friend in 2001, and 18's dirge-like "Extreme Ways." Emotional rock bottom is reached on the Innocents cut "The Lonely Night," wherein a worn-out Mark Lanegan and Kris Kristofferson face mortality in a way that echoes Johnny Cash's twilight take on Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt." Through the tears and heartache, Moby offers a few uplifting reworkings, namely the epic "We Are All Made of Stars" -- which he styled as a classic rock opera in scope and progression -- and "Lift Me Up," which transforms the transcendent original with a cacophonous chorus of voices, horn blasts, and galloping percussion. By toning down the euphoric dancefloor bliss of these often-repetitive techno anthems, the songs breathe and move in ways like never before. Reprise is a bold late-career gem that legitimizes Moby's brand of electronic music by extracting the existing emotions that always dwelled beneath the digital soundscapes, revealing a heart that was always there but is now on full glorious display. ~ Neil Z. Yeung

Product Details

Release Date:	05/28/2021
Label:	Deutsche Grammophon
UPC:	0028948398676

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Moby   Primary Artist,Bass,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Strings,Director,Percussion,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Guitar (Bass),Synthesizer Bass,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background),Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Kris Kristofferson   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Gregory Porter   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Vikingur Olafsson   Primary Artist,Piano,Featured Artist
Skylar Grey   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Darlingside   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Nataly Dawn   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Amythyst Kiah   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Mark Lanegan   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals
Novo Amor   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals
Apollo Jane   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Alice Skye   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Luna Li   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Deitrick Haddon   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Jim James   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Mindy Jones   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Jason White   Choir Conductor,Conductor,Conductor
Geoff Foster   Orchestra
The Samples   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Jennifer Hammond   Orchestra
Jawon McEastland   Vocals (Background)
Alan Meyerson   Band
Alex Acuna   Percussion
Jonathan Nesvadba   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Laura Dawn   Vocals (Background)
Joel Nesvadba   Vocals (Background)
Craig Pilkington   Vocals
Charles Goodan   Vocals (Background)
Nikki Grier   Vocals (Background)
Sturla Mio Þorisson   Piano
Francisco Botero   Vocals
Kaye Fox   Vocals (Background)
Joseph Trapanese   Conductor
Rob Bralver   Director
Sturla Mio Porisson   Piano
Budapest Art Orchestra   Orchestra
Tripp Beam   Drums
Braden Sauder   Vocals
Thomas Lelli   Vocals
Daron Murphy   Vocals (Background)
Peaches West   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Geoff Foster   Engineer
Vera Hall   Composer
Peter Hook   Composer
Mark Wilder   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Orenda Fink   Composer
Moby   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Animation,Recording,Photography,Video Producer
David Bowie   Composer
Alan Lomax   Composer
Brian Eno   Composer
Bernard Sumner   Composer
Maria Taylor   Composer
Howie Weinberg   Mastering
Alan Meyerson   Mixing,Engineer
Damien Jurado   Composer
Steve Emmons   Animation
Oliver Kreyssig   Creative Producer
Jonathan Nesvadba   Engineer,Producer,Recording,Studio Manager,Associate Producer
Stephen Morris   Composer
Angelo Badalamenti   Composer
Ian Curtis   Composer
Craig Pilkington   Engineer,Vocal Engineer
Matthew Brown   Arranger,Arranger
Dave Tomberlin   Producer
Travis Schneider   Photography,Portrait Photography
Peter Pejtsik   Digital Recording
Steven Cutts   Video Director,Video Producer
Lindsay Hicks   Associate Producer
Booker White   Music Preparation
Christian Badzura   A&R
Gary Baseman   Animation
Sturla Mio Þorisson   Engineer,Recording
Celeste Chada   Coordination,Recording Coordinator
Francisco Botero   Engineer,Vocal Engineer
Joseph Trapanese   Arranger,Engineer,Producer
Skylar Grey   Composer
Laurence Anslow   Digital Recording
Jason Lazarus   Arranger
Rob Bralver   Composer,Video Director
Mark Lanegan   Composer
Ray Granlund   Editorial
Marc Fritsch   A&R,Product Manager,Project Manager
Clark Rhee   Arranger
Anush Alimirzaie   A&R
Braden Sauder   Engineer,Vocal Engineer
Hoss Yekband   Assistant Engineer
Daniel Gonzalez Moya   Product Manager
Anthony Circo   Coordination,Recording Coordinator
Brianna Rhodes   Assistant
Booth Reader   Digital Recording
Derek Zeoli   Assistant
Jordan Marks   Artwork,Cover Design
Max Davidoff-Grey   Arranger
Pietro Milanesi   Arranger
Thomas Lelli   Engineer,Vocal Engineer
Anusch Alimitzaie   Coordination
Clark Rhoe   Arranger
Eric Harle   Producer
Lindsay Lewis   Animation
Little Idiot   Photography
Little Walnut   Video Producer
Marty Bales   Producer
Lina Matschinko   Project Coordinator
Michael Formanski   Video Director
Nathan Haugaard   Cinematography
Miklos Lukacs   Orchestra Contractor