Canadian electronic duo Bob Moses has a new concept album featuring six tracks documenting ‘humanity’s driving needs’ in the age of technology, titled Desire. Interestingly, the two-piece outfit consisting of Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance, booked the studio time for the album while they were still on their European club tour, following the release of their 2018 album Battle Lines. “We wanted to make something that was continuously mixed, something that would take the listener on a journey and replicate that feeling we try to create when we’re playing our sets in a club,” Howie tells us.
We caught up with the members of Bob Moses to talk about their new album, their creative process, the possibilities for festival culture, and more:
Tell us about your new album Desire, what are the elements you've focused on?
The new record is a meditation on the themes of “Desire”. Desire can help drive ambition, but it can also lead to an endless cycle of wanting, needing, getting, repeating. It’s a blessing and a curse, something everyone struggles with. We were also inspired by the Greek myth of Icarus, hence the falling man on the album cover. Struggles with desire have been around for centuries, this album is just our modern take on an age old story.
What made you opt for a concept album?
We’ve always wanted to make a concept record, but it’s not something you can really plan, it just has to happen naturally. We made most of these songs on the road while we were touring. We’d rent different studios when we had days off and try to finish it piece by piece. We noticed at one point that the subject matter was all very similar, and it felt like it could turn into a concept album.
How has your sound evolved in the last few years?
We wear a bunch of different hats in the studio. We can write pop songs, dance tracks, acoustic songs...we’ve gotten better at taking elements of each to make a “Bob Moses” album. We’ve always tried to be very dynamic and diverse in our musical styles. It can be difficult to blend a bunch of different sonic influences into a cohesive sound, but we feel it’s something we get better as time goes on.
Tell us how the global shutdown affected your creative process?
It’s really great having nothing but time to work on music, usually we are much busier. We’ve been staying in touch with our fans through live streams, it’s also been great for keeping our DJ chops up. We’re limited with the kind of concert we can deliver through a live stream, but sometimes limitations are very liberating. Either way, it’s something for us to do and hopefully make our fans happy during these crazy times.
What do you think is the future for festival culture, as we knew it?
There are so many theories, we really have no idea what might happen. We would hope everything goes back to normal once there is a vaccine...but for the immediate future, I think live streams are going to be the closest thing to concerts a lot of people are going to experience.
Can you tell us what you're planning next?
Our album will be released August 28th. We have one more single coming out before then. We’re going to continue finding ways to explore and experiment with live streams. We’re going to be mixing a few DJ sets for various radio shows and keep writing new music.