Bob Moses’ New Album Is About Growing Up — “We Started as Kids and Now We’re Both Parents”

Bob Moses on longevity, parenthood and their new album Blink

Bob Moses are pursuing something many artists only dream of: a long, sustainable career in music. The Vancouver-born duo—Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance—who once lit up Brooklyn raves in the early 2010s, now find themselves reflecting on adulthood, family and the passage of time.

Both musicians have moved from the reckless optimism of their teenage years into the responsibilities of raising children, a transition that has given their work new perspective. Howie says that while they still carry the same hunger they felt “at 16 in our bedrooms,” parenthood and the years on the road have altered how they view their achievements.

Their debut album, 2015’s Days Gone By, followed by 2018’s Battle Lines, both performed strongly on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Their single “Love Brand New” spent 12 weeks on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, and the duo have collected Grammy and Juno nominations while headlining memorable shows from Red Rocks to major festivals around the globe.

Bob Moses’ latest record, Blink, was released Friday, Oct. 17 on AWAL. Singles such as “Time of Your Life” have already made waves on the Billboard Canada Airplay charts.

Much of Blink grapples with the fleeting nature of experience—the sensation that highs and lows pass too quickly to fully claim as your own. Howie describes the album as an exercise in being present: accepting that moments will flicker by and that the truest thing they can do is remain engaged in the work itself.

Collaboration for the pair is intentional and occasionally logistically complex. With Vallance based in New York and Howie in Los Angeles, they frequently develop ideas independently and hand them off to the other to expand. Recording sessions took place in Toronto and Vancouver, and reuniting in Canada often helped them reconnect with the origins of their sound.

The two first crossed paths as teenagers in an art class in Vancouver. They weren’t immediate friends—different ages and social circles kept them apart at first—but over time their musical directions converged. Howie gravitated toward singer-songwriter material while Vallance explored trance and electronic textures; together they discovered a hybrid sound that now defines Bob Moses.

Their shared musical upbringing—rooted in Canadian alternative radio and a broad palette of rock influences—remains a touchstone. Vallance notes that being outside Canada often makes the duo more aware of how those early Canadian influences shaped their sensibility, citing exposure to everything from late-’90s alt-rock to heavier acts that dominated the airwaves when they were growing up.

Vallance’s musical lineage runs deep: his mother, Rachel Paiement, played in the French-Canadian group Cano, and his father, Jim Vallance, is known for his songwriting collaborations with Bryan Adams and others. That background, Vallance says, made the idea of a viable music career feel attainable in a practical way—proof that you could build a life, raise a family and still remain committed to music.

Despite the more measured outlook that comes with experience, the duo remain grateful and hungry. Vallance emphasizes that success—tickets sold, radio spins, album sales—are never guarantees, and the band treats each opportunity as something to earn anew. They hope to sustain their work for decades, inspired by artists who have built lifetimes of creativity and performance.

“We’ve been doing this professionally for over a decade,” Howie reflects, “and the goal is to keep going—another 10, 20 years—if we still feel the same, why wouldn’t we?”

This article was originally published by Billboard Canada.

Source