Today, multi-platinum-selling singer, songwriter and producer Moby releases the orchestral rework of South Side, featuring Ricky Wilson (Kaiser Chiefs). It is taken from the anticipated release of Moby’s 20th studio album, Resound NYC, on 12th May 2023, through Deutsche Grammophon.
The accompanying stop-motion video was directed by Moby and animated by Moby and Lindsay Hicks, with additional animation by Paul Essenhigh and edited by Mike Formanski.
“On the one hand, I wish I was a great singer, but on the other hand, one of the great things about being a mediocre singer is that I get to work with some of my favourite vocalists. I’m thrilled that Ricky brought his genius to ‘South Side’, which I believe is one of the more jolly songs about the apocalypse.” – Moby.
South Side was originally released as the seventh single from Moby’s seminal album ‘Play’’ on 10th October 2000 and featured Gwen Stefani. The track was inspired by Moby’s visits to Chicago and his love for its house music scene. The orchestral rework features a funk bass line, with the brass section taking the lead as it builds into the euphoric chorus.
On working with Moby, Ricky Wilson said, “Moby asked me to sing on one of his songs and I said yes. If you told me a few years ago I would be on Moby’s radar enough for him to ask me to sing on a song I would be gobsmacked. I still am a bit gobsmacked to be honest, so it was a pretty easy ‘yes’. I don’t often agree to do this sort of thing cos I don’t want people thinking I’m big headed enough to believe that I can do it justice, but if Moby does then that’s good enough for me.”
Check out ‘South Side’ featuring Ricky Wilson – BELOW:
On Resound NYC, Moby reimagines and orchestrates fifteen of his most iconic tracks written or recorded in New York from the years 1994 to 2010. In February, he launched ‘Resound NYC’ with In This World featuring Marisha Wallace, which was followed by Walk With Me, featuring Lady Blackbird, and most recently, Extreme Ways featuring Dougy Mandagi (Temper Trap). Other guest vocalists include Gregory Porter, Margo Timmons, and Amythyst Kiah.
Resound NYC is the follow-up to Moby’s acclaimed album Reprise (May 2021), which featured guests including Kris Kristofferson, Mark Lanegan, Jim James, and Skylar Grey.
While many of the vocalists on Resound NYC are well-known names, others are less familiar: Moby discovered P.T. Banks singing in a wedding band in Texas, while the elderly father of mesmerizingly soulful Danielle Ponder joins her on the remake of Run On.
The music pioneer’s 20th studio album reflects perhaps the most defining era in Moby’s musical life, from his former home and birthplace, New York City. It was there he began his music career playing in punk rock bands and dj’ing at underground clubs in and around New York.
After dj’ing and touring live through the 90’s, in 1999 Moby’s breakthrough album Play became not just a commercial success but a global phenomenon. He had already enjoyed hits with ‘Go’, ‘Feeling So Real’, and his version of the ‘James Bond Theme’, and had been asked to remix everyone from Michael Jackson to Freddy Mercury, but the smash hit Play changed everything. As we entered a new millennium, he turned electronic music on its head.
“Before I discovered punk rock, I grew up with classic rock,” says Moby. “My first concert was Yes at Madison Square Garden in 1978. So it was super compelling revisiting my songs and seeing whether they held up with a more traditional, non-electronic, orchestral approach.”
Revisiting his past whilst reimagining his future has resulted in Resound NYC., an album packed full of thrilling music, a classic reworking of definitive and era-defining songs, once again reminding us of the incredible scope and relevance of Moby’s musical talent. (The original version of When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die recently featured in Netflix’s Stranger Things finale).
“An orchestra can be anything; it can be whatever the composer wants it to be,” Moby says. “So rather than having every song receive the same orchestral treatment, I kind of built a bespoke orchestral approach for each song.”
With Resound NYC, Moby reconsiders not just the evolution of his own work but also a time, a place, and even a transformation in our world:
“When you think of the ‘90s,” he says, “Bill Clinton was President; the rave scene was this utopian, idyllic world; the Soviet Union had ended; climate change was just an idea for a book that Al Gore was going to write. Back then, making music was this celebration of the potential that our world had, that our culture had. And now it’s almost a refuge in an at times terrifying and apocalyptic world.”
Resound Tracklisting:
In My Heart ft. Gregory Porter
Extreme Ways ft. The Temper Trap
South Side ft. Rick Wilson
Flower (Find My Baby) ft. Amethyst Kiah
In This World ft. Marisha Wallace
Helpless ft. Margo Timmins, Damien Jurado
Signs Of Love
Perfect Life ft. Rick Wilson
When It’s Cold I’d Like To Die ft. P.T. Banks
Slipping Away
Second Cool Hive ft. OUM, Sarah Willis
Hyenas
Last Night
Run On ft. Danielle Ponder, Elija Ponder
Walk With Me ft. Lady Blackbird
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