Album Review: Bob Moses – Days Gone By
2 min read
Days Gone By is the debut release from Canadian natives Bob Moses and it’s electronica but not as you know it. It’s not a DJ project full of shaking bass and raving beats, it’s a new wave of easy listening computer created sound combined with subtle, rhythmic beats and hypnotic vocals. It’s an intriguingly intricate album with layers of not only electronica, but layers of instrumentals and organic sounds. It’s a fresh take of an overworked genre that will make these newcomers stand apart from the crowd.
Days Gone By sees a delicate balance between indie rock band and a full-blown electronica production with track Keeping Me Alive definitely leaning towards the alternative composition side of things. Unlike a lot of insensitive DJ tracks, this one has plenty of heart gently repeating “you’re the only thing that’s keeping me alive”. These smoother songs are the tracks that don’t rely on a heavy, thumping bass or electric beats. It features more of an organic melody with the use of instrument sounds, like the Tamborine accents in Before I Fall and Tearing Me Up to make the scattered vocals and periodic beat more pronounced. On the other side of the spectrum Bob Moses delivers some pure electronica, with an underlying throbbing beat and various layers of human sound on opening song Like It Or Not to really set the mood of Days Gone By. Similar are Nothing At All and title track Days Gone By, they’re ones that mimic the sounds of EDM, centred on the rhythm but are intertwined with a quirky production that makes a unique, smooth groove.
Although while there are some stellar tracks on this one there are also a few that don’t quite reach the mark. While many of the songs hit between the 6 and 7-minute point like Talk, with the same tempo throughout it’s entirety it gets a bit tiresome and you lose the fun of electronica. Having the same slow beat repeated on a continuous loop with minimal vocals for a long period of time aka closer Touch And Go starts to sound all too generic, which is a mild disappointment to finish of the album.
