Album Review: Hotel by Moby

Hotel rarely shows, in any shape or form, traceable inspiration from the new wave and post-punk era Moby advertised as being in full effect. More surprising is that apart from the lovely ambient instrumentals that open and close it, the album is all valley and no peaks, suggesting that the shelving of his sampling device was the worst creative move he could've made. The first half contains simple -- as in basic and/or emaciated, so we're talking poor -- modern rock songs that tend to be anthemic and soul-searching in nature.

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Asomewhat woolly attempt to create a metaphor for the transient nature of human existence, Hotel finds Moby singing and playing real instruments rather than using samples. He's not much of a singer, but that never stopped Bernard Sumner of New Order, whose Temptation is covered here in anodyne chill-out style with vocals by one Laura Dawn, who has some facility as a singer if little character. The cumulative vocal pallor, however, makes for a wan listen.

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