Mute muffles Moby LP hype in bid for organic approach. (International).

Mute has set itself the tricky task of following up a near 10m-selling album, while trying to keep the hype surrounding it to a minimum.

The album in question, Moby's 18, is one of the most hotly-anticipated releases of the year. And its arrival around May 13 comes in total contrast to that of predecessor Play, which took months to make any significant international sales impact.

Mute, which handles the UK-signed New Yorker for the world outside North

America, is extremely conscious of the "organic" way Play took off and is now keen to ensure the follow-up does not become engulfed by an over-hyped campaign.

"What's very important to Mute is that we're not guilty of shovelling a record down people's throats," says head of international Donna Vergier. "The campaign won't be bigger than the record itself, but will make people aware of the record and allow it to grow accordingly."

The album's first single, We Are All Made Of Stars, which is released commercially around April 29, went to radio in the middle of March, while its video was due to be premiered by broadcasters globally at the end of last week.

"We have what we feel is a fantastic lead single and we're getting great reactions to it," says Vergier. "It was important for Moby to make a record that he loved and that was a step beyond Play, but also ...