Having licensed all 18 songs from Play, the subsequent critical failure of his next two albums was seen as punishment for selling his musical soul.

Moby's latest release, Last Night, might go some way to winning back the dance music purists and re-affirming what is good about the Christian vegan.

Setting himself a monster challenge, Last Night is Moby's reconstruction of a night out in his beloved New York.

He attempts to boil down about 25 years of the city's dance scene in little more than an hour.

Accordingly, it is a varied and eclectic mix - in his own words, from the celebratory to the conventional to the frightening.

Long-term Moby fans might even consider this an overview of the musician's career, given the breadth of his back catalogue he covers.

Gospel and soul samples merge with lush beats on Live For Tomorrow; urgent piano and snare rolls propel the bold rave-up cut The Stars; while 80s' house homage Disco Lies demands to be heard in clubs.

Elsewhere, Moby effortlessly combines hip hop with house beats, with the help of Nigerian rappers 419 Squad, for the stomper Alice.

Thankfully, he has mostly moved aside from the mic, making way for a barrage of disco divas.

But just as Last Night builds to is transcendent moment, it retreats, indulging in some ambient electronica pieces to begin the long comedown.

Maybe that is Moby's point - that the highlights of a night out are few and fleeting and lack cohesion.

But for an album aimed at celebrating the city that never sleeps, this hits the snooze button way too early.

Still, some of its finest cuts might move Moby out of the shadows of the omnipresent Play.