Last Night

While his critics struggle to accept the massive success and outspokenness of small, bald, Kermit-voiced Moby, there can be no denying his brilliant grasp of a simple hook efficiently delivered. Whether it’s the Twin Peaks chords of “Go” or the gospel-blues loops and heartstring-stopping strings of Play, his tracks tend to be instantly hummable, and it’s only after massive over-saturation that they start to become irritating. Here he’s ditched turn of the millennium attempts to be a ‘frontman’ and put together a warm and embracing collection of unashamed retro-rave. Aside from a couple of slightly iffy diversions into hip hop and electro, this album is all huge piano riffs, chugging synths, ambient string breakdowns and yearning diva vocals. Perfectly catching the sometimes-forgotten emotional ambiguity of rave circa 1989/90 just before it ossified into hardcore, it’s all big laser show, big festival vibes — and it remains delightful home listening to boot.