(Mute) Mute releases Moby's new album 'Wait For Me' June 30th 2009. The video for the album's debut track, a moody and contemplative instrumental called 'Shot In The Back Of The Head' is a beautiful dark animation directed by David Lynch. Mute will be kicking off the campaign with a free download of "Shot in the Back of the Head" from Moby's website (moby.com) on Wednesday April 15th.
It's fitting that Lynch directs this debut video, as it was a 2008 speech by Lynch that informed Moby's inspiration for the album and Little Idiot Records:
"david was talking about creativity, and to paraphrase, about how creativity in and of itself, and without market pressures, is fine. it seems that too often creative output is judged by how well it accommodates the marketplace, how much market share it commands and how much money it generates.
"In making this record i wanted to focus on making something that i loved, without really being concerned about how it might be received by the marketplace. as a result it's a quieter, more melodic, more mournful and more personal record than some of the records i've made in the past" -- moby
A resolutely DIY effort, Moby recorded the album in his home studio ("although 'studio' always seems like an overly grand word for a bunch of equipment set up in a bedroom."), drew the album artwork with a black sharpie on copy paper, asked his friends to record the vocals ("working with friends is almost always nicer than working with rock stars") and asked another friend, photographer Jessica Dimmock, to take the press photos.
In addition, friend Ken Thomas (Sigur Ros, Throbbing Gristle, M83) came on board to help mix the record: "mixing the record with him was really nice, as he's creatively open to trying anything - like recording an old broken bakelite radio and running it through some broken old effects pedals to see what it would sound like. it's on the record as a :45 second long track called 'stock radio'". Moby and Thomas mixed the record using purely analog equipment in true stereo, akin to how records were mixed in the late 60's. As a result, the songs sound pretty amazing on headphones.
The songs also sound best when listened to as a cohesive body of work. While each track stands on its own merit, 'Wait For Me' was recorded and arranged to be listened to from start to finish. In today's single-driven music industry an album that holds together as a collective entity is a rarity. An album that holds itself to standards higher than commercial measures of success is even more rare.
