Acclaimed New York City-based electronic musician, producer, and activist Moby has released a playful, hand-drawn music video for his latest Latin house-infused single “Feelings Come Undone,” featuring Raquel Rodriguez. The video follows the release of his long-awaited 22nd studio album, “Always Centered at Night,” which is now available everywhere.
In the video for “Feelings Come Undone,” Moby illustrates the track on a whiteboard with a marker, featuring an anonymous small space alien. The drawing is played back in reverse, mirroring the track’s title as if to “undo” the story. Reflecting on the video, Moby shares, “Years ago, when I was a little college dropout sleeping on my mom’s pull-out couch, I started drawing my space alien alter ego. I don’t know his name, but he keeps showing up and that makes me happy.”
“Always Centered at Night” is special even by Moby’s standards. The album includes 13 collaborations, featuring both well-known names and emerging talents. The lead single, “Dark Days,” showcases the acclaimed soul-jazz singer-songwriter Lady Blackbird, whose deep vocals and earnest soul propel the rhythmic track. Other notable collaborators include serpentwithfeet on the beautiful “On Air” and Benjamin Zephaniah on the break-beat driven “Where Is Your Pride?,” a spoken word piece with a powerful message delivered in Zephaniah’s warm Handsworth burr. Moby comments, “As a vegan activist, and as a wise and compassionate man, Benjamin inspired me for many years. I hope that ‘Where Is Your Pride?’ honors his legacy and also draws people’s attention to his life, work, and principles.”
The album also features Sudanese, Netherlands-based singer Gaidaa on “Transit,” London-based Burundian royal refugee J.P. Bimeni, and Kingston-raised, London-based Aynzli Jones. “Always Centered at Night” is a continuation of a project Moby announced in 2022, inspired by the idiosyncratic New York record shops he frequented in the late ’80s. The project aims to work with special writers and vocalists to create songs inspired by the spirit of musical discovery.
Moby’s pursuit of new sounds has made him a collector of voices, whether sampling artists like Bessie Jones, Vera Hall, or Boy Blue on “Play,” or collaborating with superstars like David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, and Britney Spears. He explains, “I’m always looking. Sometimes it’s about going on YouTube. Sometimes it’s Spotify. Other times, it’s just walking around Lower Manhattan going to karaoke places, where I’ve actually found a couple of singers. It’s this constant process of looking for voices and getting excited and inspired when I find a wonderful voice.”
The songs on “Always Centered at Night” are personal and border-defying, blending styles from the last thirty years in electronic music. Highlights include the trip-hoppy “We’re Going Wrong” featuring Brie O’Banion, the broken beat, almost drum’n’bass influenced “Medusa” with Aynzli Jones, and the Latin house track “Feelings Come Undone” with Raquel Rodriguez.
Since its inception, the project has included collaborations with José James on “Ache For” and Akemi Fox on “Fall Back,” amassing over 15 million streams across platforms. All 13 collaborations are now collected together for the first time.
Later this year, Moby will embark on his first tour in over a decade across Europe and the UK to celebrate “Play,” which featured classics like “Porcelain,” “Natural Blues,” and “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?” and sold over 12 million copies worldwide. The tour will see 100% of profits going to European animal rights organizations. Tickets, including for a newly added show in Lausanne, Switzerland, are on sale now, though several dates have already sold out.