THERE seems to be no stopping Moby - everything the man touches turns to gold.

The phenomenal success of his albums 18 and Play is testament to his ability to be able to touch the souls of people with his musical ability.

Now, Moby fans have the chance to hear his music in the flesh when he plays a one-off gig at Birmingham Academy on Wednesday, November 20.

It was when Moby's last album Play sold in excess of 10 million copies that he was turned from battling techno soul maverick into Mega Moby, the bold, populist, global star.

Since the release of Play in 1999 it has gone platinum in 26 countries.

During the past two years, Moby has accepted invitations to play guitar for live shows with childhood heroes David Bowie, Michael Stipe, Mission Of Burma and New Order/Joy Division.

But perhaps the heart of Moby's success is composed of raw human feeling, because it seems his music stirs memories people didn't know they had.

The 36-year-old Harlem-born, producer-writer, DJ and ex-punk began writing songs for 18 on the Play world tour.

At the end of that tour, in February 2001, he returned to New York with 40 songs. Over the next six months a further hundred compositions came together in his home studio.

"I probably should have felt a lot more pressure, but to be honest with you I didn't really feel any," he says.

"The idea was just to go and make another record, because in some ways I saw the success of Play as being very much an anomaly.

"When we put out Play we had such low expectations for it. It was just so strange, because the music marketplace that Play had been released into seemed like it was a music marketplace that made sure that Play would never be successful.

"And the fact that it went on to be successful was just so bizarre."

Apparently, there are as yet unclarified mystical significances behind the naming of the album 18, including secrets buried in Hebrew linguistics and inter-planet conspiracy theories.

It's also named 18 because there are 18 songs.

For those of you who have not yet bought the album, Moby sings four songs on 18 and there are guest vocals from, among others, Sinead O'Connor, Angie Stone, MC Lite and Azure Ray.

"My goal as a musician now is to make records that people can take into their lives and hopefully fall in love with, and get a lot of use out of," says Moby.

"I kind of feel like, in the past I went out of my way to be confrontational at times and to make records that were difficult and challenging, and now I feel like, if I want to be difficult I can be difficult on my own time. I'd rather make records that can be important to people on a much more human level."

Tickets for the Birmingham Academy gig are priced at £18.50 in advance.