THE VANCOUVER-HAILING DUO BEHIND BOB MOSES MASTERFULLY BLENDS STADIUM-FILLING POP HOOKS WITH THE SLEEK SONIC DEPTH OF BROOKLYN’S GRITTY UNDERGROUND SCENE
BY DAN SALAMONE
BORN: Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance both hail from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
SOUND: Atmospheric and danceable, with occasional forays into live instrumentation. Think nods to ‘00s house a la Deep Dish and Masters at Work, but also to ‘00s lovely electronic pop like Kings of Tomorrow.
BIG BREAK: After messing around in Howie’s home studio, trying to merge their indie rock and trance sensibilities, they impressed the renowned Scissor and Thread record label in Brooklyn enough to release two EPs: Hands to Hold (October 2012) and Far from the Tree (October 2013). In 2015, they released their first LP, Days Gone By, on the equally renowned Domino label.
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: From their debut came their first cross-genre radio hit, “Tearing Me Up,” earning a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording and winning the Grammy for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. The song was such a crossover hit that it made the top 20 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart. In January 2016, the electronic duo was hand-picked to perform on The Ellen DeGeneres Show by Ellen herself, supercharging their star power.
LATEST WORK: Their last long-player was 2022’s excellent The Silence in Between, but they also released a dancy new single this year, titled “Time of Your Life.”
Bob Moses