Moby, a self-professed "follower of Christ" who avoids the conventional trappings of "Christianity", is best known for his creative endeavors in re-mixing tracks for the dance floor, creating unexpected sonic soups of disparate elements. But this album gives us further evidence he's interested in far more than that. Play is just, well, just what it says it is...the artist messing around with music he loves, both ancient and cutting edge, and sewing it up into something fun. He reinvigorates old gospel for the dance floor, and he brings something of the blues to techno. He weaves abstract aural textures that might be soundtracks for his dreams. Several tracks use scratchy old recordings of gospel, folk, and blues as a foundation, and then he slathers it with frothy hip-hop beats, sprinkles it with heavy metal flourishes.
The fusion is remarkably effective. "Run On" takes an old gospel chorus about running from temptation and turns it into a contagiously joyful singalong. "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" loops that very question to great effect; the music builds up the question until the merest suggestion of an answer turns minor chords to major, turns longing to a promise. "My Weakness" is the eerie equivalent of hearing the musical prayers of a primitive culture somewhere in the distance, perhaps off through the trees or on a television down the hall.
It's a colorful collection of experiments. I find it useful as background music for my own creative writing endeavors, but you might find it a perfect soundtrack for a road trip, for a party, or for meditation. You may not find it intellectually challenging at all. But I challenge you to be bored by it. Moby may be making a statement, conscious or otherwise, about the fusion of mind, spirit, and body. Even as the songs lead you to questions, the music leads you to dancing, and sometimes to inexplicable joy.
4.5 tocks
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