Moby Remixes Himself, For The Better
His new take on “Are You Lost in the World Like Me?” is less directly political, and prettier too.
You can’t hear much of the angsty original “Are You Lost in the World Like Me?” — from Moby & The Void Pacific's recent album, These Systems Are Failing — in this charmingly chill remix, which is credited simply to Moby. The only lyrics that remain are the chorus, which certainly alludes to a planetary existential crisis but lacks the specificity you might expect from a man who once bundled essays about prison reform and animal extinction with his CDs.
But as Moby told The FADER, of his political LP: “Throughout my life I’ve been inspired by musicians who are really great at writing politically and socially inspired songs. But it’s just not my strong suit. When I try to write issue-driven music, it comes across as dry and didactic. So with this record, in particular, what I’ve done is make the lyrics more impressionistic, and then the things that surround it more issue-oriented.”
So in addition to on-the-nose music videos, and the non-profit vegan restaurant he opened in L.A., he recently launched the Circle V festival, a hybrid music and food event that's focused on animal rights. In fact, that’s where the electronic music pioneer sees his real center these days.
“I almost see myself as an animal rights activist first and a musician second,” he said. “My goal is effective advocacy. I’d rather lose money and play at a festival that benefits an animal rights organization than go on tour and make money for myself. I’d rather write articles for Rolling Stone or Huffington Post that have the potential to reach millions of people — and for many, many reasons, this record is not going to sell millions of copies.”
It might be wishful to think this little old remix could prompt anyone to protest, donate, or volunteer. But particularly in contrast to an LP that was at times grating, its well-honed sound makes life among dumpster fires all the more tolerable.