Innocents is in line with
Wait for Me (2009) and
Destroyed (2011),
Moby's most intimate and isolated albums. Following a move from New York to Los Angeles, he recorded almost all the instrumentation by himself. He made a considerable change by seeking vocals from an extended cast of relatively known singers -- including
Mark Lanegan,
the Flaming Lips'
Wayne Coyne,
Cold Specks,
Skylar Grey, and
Damien Jurado -- rather than a handful of locals, and he had
Mark "Spike" Stent mix it all. It's another downcast, occasionally grand-sounding set suited for solitary home listening. Not much moves the feet. "A Long Time" has an insistent, kind of dejected chug, while "Saints" sounds like
Moby trying to recall how
Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy" goes. The emotional apex is "The Perfect Life," a neo-gospel number where
Moby and
Coyne are backed by a choir of ten voices. It would have provided a suitable end to the album, but instead, it's planted in the middle, surrounded by an ambient piano ballad and surprisingly understated showcase for Grey. Much of the album is rich with
Moby's synthetic strings. This is the most liberal he's been with them -- they're just about everywhere -- but he thankfully restrains himself on "The Lonely Night," where
Mark Lanegan's deep, weathered voice is relatively (rightfully) unornamented and dissipates amid soft drones after "Here come the lonely night…can't escape my mind." It helps make
Innocents Moby's most powerful work in several years. ~ Andy Kellman