Moby – Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt

Back before electronic dance music was shortened to “EDM”, when DJs were only big in Europe, Moby was practically the face of electronica. His signature glasses & shaved head look was iconic (to the point of a ‘guy who looks like Moby’ on How I Met Your Mother) – there was also Eminem calling him out. But the self-described “little idiot” has kept going & growing, crafting a signature grand-in-an-empty-hall sound with soaring female vocals, as displays – and reminds – on Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt.

Everything manages to be both epic and personal, low-key but pressing, on songs like the opener “Mere Anarchy”, “Like a Motherless Child”, and more. He uses female harmonies well, but can also be down-tempo conversational with pieces such as “The Middle Is Gone” and “This Wild Darkness”. Not every track stands out, and this is the Moby you remember (or at least should).

Moby has long been a great predictor of music, from his own before-today’s-heyday electronica to foreseeing iTunes before there was iTunes. Admittedly, Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt doesn’t push his envelope, but he’s got a great letter.