Moby and the Void Pacific Choir – “Are You Lost in the World Like Me?” (Singles Going Steady)

Adriane Pontecorvo: “Are You Lost in the World Like Me?” starts off as a noisy cry into space, filled with a yearning for something in the world to work like it’s supposed to. It becomes an embrace, a sincere call across humanity for the fearful to come together. Driving, desperate, and vulnerable, this track never lets up, and would be almost perfect if not for Moby’s signature fake strings peeking their outdated heads in at the end. Still, a synth-heavy stunner. [8/10]

Andrew Paschal: This is the most soaring, urgent, and dramatic recording that Moby has done since “Extreme Ways”, but now with an apocalyptic weight to it. The four-note musical hook is potent and memorable, and gives the song its pop potential. At times the track tries to oversell itself, veering dangerously close in places to being so self-serious that it becomes a joke; I don’t know that we needed propulsive electronics and electric guitar shredding, for instance. Still, more than anything else Moby comes across as one desperate to make himself heard, and he does a pretty convincing job in doing so. [7/10]

Paul Carr: PopMatters recent article on the retrospective merits of Moby’s polarising Animal Rights seems particularly fitting when approaching his latest single. Most of us made our minds up about his work a long time ago. However, he still has the power to surprise. Here, he mixes his love of late ’80s techno and house with the guitar sound which featured so prominently on the aforementioned album. It’s a frantic, industrial, techno freakout with a euphoric choir enhanced chorus. If that sounds a bit nuts then, quite frankly, it is. [7/10]

Scott Zuppardo: One of the purveyors of EDM when it was still house music so there’s a badge of some sort there. That said it’s more of the same old idea, but the chorus adds to the allure. It will move folks on the dance floor but probably not even an ear hair of mine past this blurb. [4/10]

Chris Ingalls: The urgency is palpable and the sound is reminiscent of some obscure goth synth pop from the ’80s — not necessarily a bad thing. I like the anthemic quality of the track. Moby’s relative absence from ubiquity over the past several years gives this song the impression of someone who’s been out of touch for a while and has suddenly been shaken into reality, wondering what’s happening to the world around him. 2016 is a fitting year for that kind of revelation and reflection. [7/10]

SCORE: 6.60