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 women (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.