Moby and DJ Tennis have shared a pulsing remix of “should sleep.” The track, featuring J.P. Bimeni, was originally released as a single with an accompanying video in 2023 and appears on the album always centered at night, which is out now on Mute.
On working with Moby, Manfredi Romano, aka DJ Tennis says: “As a lifelong fan of Moby’s work, this remix is very special to me. When he asked me to bring my own vision of ‘should sleep’ to life and release them together, I immediately began developing two separate yet complementary ideas – the dynamics and depth of both records reflect our shared love of nuanced instrumentation, powerful melodies, and layered production. I’m excited to now share these with you all and I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed creating them.”
The original, blissful track pays homage to the ’80s underground dance music scene that took New York City, and the world, by storm. It embodies the distinct carefree joy that comes with being on a dance floor surrounded by strangers after midnight. Setting the scene of the track’s origin, Moby recalls, “After disco died in the late ’70s, and before house music took the world by storm in the late ’80s, New York was home to an underground dance music scene that was curated and maintained by revered DJs like Larry Levan and David Mancuso. As a punk rocker in the early ’80s, I went out to clubs like Great Gildersleeves and the Ritz to see bands like Black Flag and Bad Brains.” Eventually, Moby found himself discovering new, hidden underground clubs like the Fallout Shelter, Am/Pm, The Loft, and Paradise Garage, where he was exposed to underground dance music like ESG, Lolleata Holloway, the Peech Boys, People’s Choice, Cheryl Lynn, Manu Dibango, and countless others.
Moby says “should sleep” transcends one’s background and identity, adding it’s “100% a tribute and an homage to that scene, when Larry Levan and David Mancuso played iconic tracks by loose joints and brass construction and the Peech Boys to an ecstatic audience of straight, gay, Black, white, Asian people, all joined in building nightly churches out of music and sweat. It makes me feel like I’m on the dance floor at David Mancuso’s loft celebrating at midnight with joyful strangers.”
