Album: Moby, Wait for Me (Mute)

Despite Moby's claim that Wait for Me is the first fruit of his decision to make "more personal" and "maybe more experimental" records, it's the closest he's returned to Play, featuring the familiar complement of sombre soul, gospel and choral vocal samples swathed in warmly melancholic string-synth textures and reassuringly logical synth and keyboard progressions.

"Shot in the Back of the Head", for instance, has the anthemic predictability and methodical heartstring-tugging manner of Coldplay, while the ambient-gospel and ambient-classical caresses of tracks such as "Walk with Me" and "A Seated Night" are simply further exercises in Play-style scented-candle massage music, swaddled in furry reverb. The piano figure and orchestration of "Wait for Me" could be from a Ludovico Einaudi album, and the sleekly psychedelic washes and arpeggios of "Scream Pilots" from a Michael Rother piece; but the gloom-shrouded tenor of the various vocals seems crass and indulgent, nowhere more so than on "Mistake". Ignore the lyrics, and the album could be pleasant enough yoga or bath-time fodder; but it represents no great progression for music in general or Moby himself, whatever he claims.

Download this: 'Shot in the Back of the Head', 'Scream Pilots', 'Wait for Me', 'Hope Is Gone'