Producer-DJ-vocalist-raconteur-et cetera Moby's most satisfying works in recent years have been those where he plunges into gloom headfirst. Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt, his 15th album, is another dip into the pool of melancholia. Lush and haunting, Everything applies the Moby ideal of soulful vocals and big beats to the not-all-that-farfetched idea of a post-apocalyptic landscape, its slow-burn compositions meticulously echoing the dread and despair that results from being human, with dub beats and Yeats lyrics serving as reminders of pre-Big One existence. The uneasy guitars buried in "The Last of Goodbyes" add an ominous tinge that bears fruit when locomotive drums crash land; the rolling pianos of "The Ceremony of Innocence" provide stability even as dramatic string flourishes rise up.
A1 | Mere Anarchy | 5:15 |
A2 | The Waste Of Suns | 4:44 |
A3 | Like A Motherless Child | 4:37 |
B1 | The Last Of Goodbyes | 4:23 |
B2 | The Ceremony Of Innocence | 3:56 |
B3 | The Tired & The Hurt | 4:26 |
C1 | Welcome To Hard Times | 5:08 |
C2 | The Sorrow Tree | 4:28 |
C3 | Falling Rain & Light | 4:46 |
D1 | The Middle Is Gone | 5:13 |
D2 | This Wild Darkness | 4:09 |
D3 | A Dark Cloud Is Coming | 5:24 |