Innocents, which Mute Records will be releasing on September 30th, marks a number of firsts for Moby as it’s the first time he’s worked with an outside producer, Mark “Spike” Stent, who has worked with the likes of Madonna, U2, Muse, Massive Attack and Bjork. The album also is the first album in Moby’s career where he collaborates with Mark Lanegan, Cold Specks, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, and others. 

The second single and official video features Wayne Coyne duetting with Moby on “The Perfect Life.” Both Moby and Coyne sing the choruses together and they alternate on the verses. And you’ll notice that the song and the video are quite humanistic, but it’s also incredibly uplifting. Naturally, i’ve played the song a couple of times, and I can’t help but smile happily. (in some way it’s a strange song because it has the Flaming Lips’ weird, super positive uplifting feel with Moby’s chilly electronics, and it works.) 

Interestingly, this is a collaboration that has been close to 20 years in the marking. Both the Flaming Lips and Moby opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers during a 1995 European tour, and Moby and Coyne had quickly become friends. And as Moby was writing the song, he thought that Coyne would be a perfect fit for what he envisioned the song. And there’s a free-flowing, fun-loving sense of collaboration that you can just feel in the video and the song.