Moby - Destroyed Album Review

On Destroyed, Moby, the multi-million selling pioneer of electronic music strays into decidedly melancholic territory. Recent single The Day - and many other songs throughout the album - set the tone perfectly. This is music for a rainy day. Recorded during bouts of insomnia on tour, it does its job as an ambient soundtrack to sleepless cities. It isn't Animal Rights, let's put it that way.

As with much of Moby's work, Destroyed is not without its flaws. It is overly long and at times suffers from being too mechanical, robotic and cold. But there are moments which do shine with the best of his back catalogue. Previously mentioned single The Day is electro-pop at its finest, Stella Maris is a brilliant mix, somewhere between thumping dance track and synthesised orchestra piece and The Right Thing calls to mind his glory days of Play and 18, sampling old Blues and Jazz records, and mixing it in with his own music. There is a lot to like here, but it is not Moby's most immediate album.

This album is perhaps better suited as background music, and it is obviously a grower, but stick with it and there are rewards aplenty. If you are expecting another Honey, or We Are All Made of Stars, look elsewhere.

Ben Walton