Personnel: Moby (vocals, various instruments); Starr Blackshere, Kelli Scarr, Hilary Gardner, Melody Zimmer, Amelia Brown, Leela James (vocals).

Audio Mixers: Andy Marcinkowski; Ken Thomas.

Recording information: England; United States.

Following the decadent, club-style excursions of 2008's HOTEL, Moby returns for a more contemplative sound on the melancholic WAIT FOR ME. Working through deeply personal material and a more intimate, though at times cinematic, sound palette, the album ranks as among his best in over 10 years.

Moby's most unified and understated album, and all the better for it, WAIT FOR ME is a morose set of elegantly bleary material, quite a shift from the hedonistic club tracks of LAST NIGHT. Dominated by instrumentals, "Shot in the Back of the Head" is the most evocative of the bunch, seemingly pulled from an unreleased David Lynch film scored by the Afghan Whigs circa GENTLEMEN--a lament from a dustbowl, full of mournful slide guitar and dewy electric piano. Other than "Mistake"--a glum neo-post-punk rave-up that, despite its cathartic release, remains downcast--Moby leaves the vocals to a series of females (neighborhood chums, apparently) who each contribute to one song. The smoky 3-A.M. gospel whispers from throwback soul singer Leela James on "Walk with Me" steal the show.

Moby's most unified and understated album, and all the better for it, Wait for Me is a morose set of elegantly bleary material, quite a shift from the hedonistic club tracks of Last Night. Dominated by instrumentals, "Shot in the Back of the Head" is the most evocative of the bunch, seemingly pulled from an unreleased David Lynch film scored by the Afghan Whigs circa Gentlemen -- a lament from a dustbowl, full of mournful slide guitar and dewy electric piano. Other than "Mistake" -- a glum neo-post-punk rave-up that, despite its cathartic release, remains downcast -- Moby leaves the vocals to a series of females (neighborhood chums, apparently) who each contribute to one song. The smoky 3-a.m. gospel whispers from throwback soul singer Leela James on "Walk with Me" steal the show. ~ Andy Kellman

Rolling Stone (p.80) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Instrumentals like 'Shot in the Back of the Head' billow moodily, lush arrangements glowing with Eno-style analog-synth warmth."

Spin (p.92) - "[I]t's easily his loosest, most consistent work in quite a while....Emotionally wrought, even transporting."

Billboard (p.28) - "Like the indelicately hard stop of the otherwise elegant album closer 'Isolate,' WAIT FOR ME continually surprises."

Paste (magazine) (p.53) - "WAIT FOR ME weaves a small-scale tapestry that succeeds on the strength of many little things done well....It's a remarkable work..."

Record Collector (magazine) (p.93) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Moby has returned to gorgeous downtempo strings and melancholic synths, topped with vocals from friends on tracks such as the reflective, female-sung 'Jtlf'..."