We know virtually nothing about them, but the possibilities of their musical future excite us. From what we can tell of their first full release, Bob Moses, not actually one person, but a duo from Canada now residing in Brooklyn, have a sound that appeals to a wider audience. We see that they don’t just produce dance tracks, but music that touches a different part of the mind and soul.
As a release under Francis Harris’ (AKA Adultnapper) newly established imprint Scissor and Thread, Bob Moses’ Hands to Hold EP delivers rich melodies and lyrics with some depth. Anyone can slap a beat and bassline together, but these guys add some real soul.
In “Hands to Hold”, the vocalist (whom I believe is Tom) has got a Phil Collins thing going on, doesn’t he? The track pulls on the same heartstrings as Collins’ “In the Air Tonight”.
We are all wanting of the eyes that will show us
We are all wasted on the words that console us
We are all waiting for the hands that will hold us
The melody under those lyrics makes us melt – even if we didn’t get the words totally accurate.
“Too Close for Comfort” is another sentimental gem. This time the singer is a bit reminiscent of Sting. We, at least, definitely hear inspiration from some British musician whose career peaked more than a decade ago.
Francis Harris makes an appearance on the EP for the digital exclusive track, “It’s Gone”. Mysterious and eerie, it compliments the flavor of the rest of the release.
We got Bob Moses to tell us a bit more about the EP regarding the concept behind it and their production experience. Read what they had to say and preview the tracks below. Also, check out a podcast the guys recorded for Scissor and Thread.
Click here to buy the release on Beatport.
EP Name: Hands to Hold
Record Label: Scissor and Thread
Release date: Oct. 29
Concept or theme behind EP: We’d been going down a certain road writing and producing a whole bunch of songs in a bunch of different styles over the last year or so, and we wanted to bring that to a focal point with this EP. We love so many different kinds of music, and we spent a lot of the last year just exploring what we might be capable of and writing together. Both of us knew in the back of our minds where we wanted to go, but this EP was a breakthrough for us in a certain way.
It just so happened that as we were asked to do the EP for Scissor and Thread. The music that was coming out of us naturally at the time was the beginning to a path that we’d been searching for over the last year. We wanted to touch all the corners of who we’d like to be as a group over a longer period and more diverse body of work. The sound we’ve been experimenting with through our collaborations with Frank, Tony and the label really helped us distill ourselves into a certain space. This EP is sort of a snapshot of the aesthetic that we’ll be exploring down the road.
EP production experience: We’ve always had difficulty figuring out what makes up an EP or an album — how many tracks, what kind of tracks and the aesthetic. Often, thinking too much about it will lead you to a dead end. For this record, we just focused on writing and producing good tracks individually, and once we had a few that we were proud of, and that we thought worked together, we started playing around with song orders and what we thought would make parts of a good whole. With this approach everything came together really easily and all the songs happened naturally and on their own over a couple months. The EP really came together around the track “Hands to Hold”, perhaps because it was the last of the four that we wrote, and once we had it, we felt we had four tracks that were strong enough to start thinking about an EP.
Favorite Track of the EP:
Tom: I love all of them for different reasons obviously, but personally I have to say “Hands to Hold”. In my mind, it was a breakthrough for us as a group, and for me personally because it kind of paves the way in an overarching sense for where we can go. It also helped me prove to myself that we can write a good song within the sound aesthetic we’re going for.
Jimmy: My favorite track is Val because sometimes it’s a bit of a fight to finish a song, and Val was the complete opposite. We finished it in two days. We didn’t want to make this super complicated track. It was a lot of fun to write and produce, it just flowed. I wish they were all that quick and easy.
Artists supporting EP: Friends and lovers
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