I once watched a documentary about how Moby makes music, and the impression I got was that he just immerses himself in the world around him and then in the studio just does whatever he feels. What’s more, he’s clearly got the talent to pull it off…
Typical of many Moby songs, “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?” is a mixture of live instrumentation and sampling, with the groundwork being done on a computer. He’s an Electronica artist, but because that term is necessarily a broad one, the music he makes draws from a diverse range of influences and crosses genres fluidly.
The main vocal parts of the song are sampled from a 1963 Gospel song by the Banks Brothers, called “He’ll Roll Your Burdens Away”. This is fleshed out by some slow breakbeat drums, with some even slower piano chords providing another solid riff.
The rest of the song is thickly textured, with a subtle yet surprising sub bass, some heavy strings, keeping the feeling sad.
It’s a different kettle of fish to the hardcore and techno he made in the early 90s, but it must be said that this sort of thing is what he’s famous for; the album from which this was taken ( Play, released in 1999) sold 12 million copies and remains the highest selling Electronica album ever…
There’s so much more to Moby than this tune but it’s still a fantastic piece!