Moby said he could have gone one of two ways in making his latest record, Last Night.

"One choice was to make a very delicate, introspective record," said Moby, 42, in Toronto recently to helm a DJ gig at the night club This Is London followed by a keynote address at Canadian Music Week. "And the other choice was to make a record that actually sounded like the music I was listening to going out in New York. And so I just wanted to make a fun, gregarious, social record."

The second option was probably best since Last Night follows Moby's recent forays into singer-songwriter territory (2005's Hotel) and more downbeat electronica (2002's 18), neither of which fared as well as his 1999 dance floor-friendly breakthrough, Play.

Moby describes Last Night -- in stores April 1 -- as a concept album that provides the soundtrack to a fun night out in his beloved Lower East Side neighbourhood.

"There are so many bars and so many clubs and so temptation is always right at your front door," Moby said. "It's getting to that point where it's about to become depressing for me. At some point you don't want to be doing the same thing you were doing 20 years ago. But I found myself for the last few years going out like four or five nights a week 'til like four or five in the morning and it's fun -- but my poor little brain and my poor little liver. They're all on the verge of going on strike."

Restraint, apparently, isn't in the cards.

"As repetitive as hedonism can be, it's still really compelling," Moby said. "And it's so repetitive, it doesn't ever really change, but it always holds my interest. I had long periods of sobriety, like I had a nine-year period where I was sober, and that was fine and I'm sure that I'll have sober periods again."

Moby doesn't sing any lead vocals on Last Night, and among the eclectic list of guest vocalists and rappers is Grandmaster Caz, who provided most of the rhymes for the first big hip-hop hit, The Sugarhill Gang's Rappers' Delight.

"I love singing but I'm under no illusions about my voice," Moby said. "Like I know that I don't have a very good voice. So if I could sing like David Bowie or Bono, I would never work with guest vocalists. But if I want to have beautiful vocals on my record, I have to get other people to sing."

Generally he likes to ask friends rather than fellow pop stars.

"As the record business falls part, there are fewer and fewer options for vocalists and musicians, so as a quasi-altruistic gesture, I'd rather help out some friends of mine than have Justin Timberlake on the record," Moby said. "Nothing against Justin Timberlake but at the same time if I have a talented friend who I can put on the record, that seems a lot more altruistic than just having a gratuitous pop star on the record."

He said he never considered asking Bowie -- who lives across the street, has become a friend and was once a touring partner -- to collaborate this time out nor would he probably ever.

"I'm always on call if he wants me to work on something he's doing," Moby said. "I would feel just uncomfortable asking him to do something on one of my records 'cause he's just an iconic figure."

And a personal hero.

"David Bowie's my favourite musician of all time," Moby said. "The first job I ever had was as a caddy at a golf course and I worked there just long enough to save up money to buy (1979's) Lodger. He and I, we became friends, and we've gone on tour together and we've worked on music together, and we've had barbecues together and it's so disconcerting 'cause he's my favourite musician of all time. So even if I'm trying to be relaxed and casual around him, I'm always aware of the fact of that I'm sitting with royalty."