Acclaimed New York City-based electronic musician, producer, and activist Moby announces his first live dates in over a decade, performing his greatest hits in Europe in September, including in London, Berlin, Paris, and more. Released on May 17, 1999, the album ‘Play’ featured the classics ‘Porcelain,’ ‘Natural Blues,’ and ‘Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?’ and sold over 12 million copies worldwide, winning numerous awards and becoming the biggest-selling electronic album of all time. See a full list of dates below.
Says Moby: “It’s been over 10 years since I’ve toured, but someone reminded me that 2024 is the 25th anniversary of the release of ‘Play,’ so it seemed like it might not be the worst idea to do a short European tour to commemorate and celebrate. The show will feature well-known songs from ‘Play,’ but also a bunch of audience favorites, like ‘Extreme Ways,’ ‘We Are All Made Of Stars,’ ‘When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die,’ and even some old rave bangers like ‘Feeling So Real’ and ‘Go.’ What makes the tour most exciting for me is that I won’t be paid anything. 100% of my tour profits will go to European animal rights organizations.”
Additionally, Moby announces the release of his next album ‘Always Centered At Night’, due out June 14th via Mute. He shares the newest track and video from the collection, ‘Dark Days’ featuring soul-jazz singer-songwriter Lady Blackbird. The album features a different collaborator on each track, including the late British poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah, as well as previously released songs boasting a varied list of accomplished collaborators like Gaidaa, (‘Transit’) José James, (‘Ache for’) Akemi Fox, (‘Fall Back’) serpentwithfeet, (‘On Air’) and Aynzli Jones (‘Medusa’).
With decades of critically acclaimed music and over 20 million records sold, Moby’s next act includes uplifting the next wave of musicians, lending his platform to rising voices of whom he’s a fan. Thrilled to bring this dynamic body of work to the world, He explains, “For the last 30 years, I’ve worked with amazing singers–everyone from David Bowie to Freddie Mercury, Gregory Porter to Jill Scott. ‘Always Centered At Night’ continues my love of collaborating, but has a focus of working with amazing singers who might not be as well known as David Bowie and Gregory Porter.” Though all tracks are collaborations, the music remains unmistakably Moby, dripping with glittery melodies and warm, hypnotic instrumentals.
‘Always Centered At Night’ tracklist:
01. On Air (feat. serpentwithfeet)
02. Dark Days (feat. Lady Blackbird)
03. Where Is Your Pride? (feat. Benjamin Zephaniah)
04. transit (feat. Gaidaa)
05. Wild Flame (feat. Danaé Wellington)
06. Precious Mind (feat. India Carney)
07. Should Sleep (feat. J.P Bimeni)
08. Feelings Come Undone (feat. Raquel Rodriguez)
09. Medusa (feat. Aynzli Jones)
10. We’re Going Wrong (feat. Brie O’Banion)
11. Ball Back (feat. Akemi Fox)
12. Sweet Moon (feat. Choklate)
13. Ache For (feat. José James)
The first single, ‘Dark Days’ is a defiant, rhythmic work propelled by the alluring, deep vocals and earnest soul of American jazz singer-songwriter Lady Blackbird. The release of her 2021 debut album ‘Black Acid Soul’ was met with immense praise, including comparisons to Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln and Billie Holiday from The New York Times who also wrote her work is “enigmatic and arresting.”
Moby adds of the sought-after collaboration, “I first heard Lady Blackbird sing a few years ago, and I fell in love with her voice. I moved heaven and earth to try and work with her.” Lady Blackbird was equally delighted to collaborate with Moby, sharing, “It was such a wonderful feeling to get to work with Moby again, this time as a writer on the new song ‘Dark Days’. His originality is so freeing. We felt the moonlit darkness of the track evoked a feeling of the beginning and ending of future days on Earth.”
Moby’s Greatest Hits Live in Europe Celebrating 25 Years of ‘Play’:
September 19th – O2 – London, UK
September 21st – Sportpaleis – Antwerp, Belgium
September 22nd – Velodrom – Berlin, Germany
September 23rd – Mitsubishi Electric Hall – Düsseldorf, Germany
September 24th – Le Zenith – Paris, France