As the definition of “alternative” continues to shift over time, electronic band Bob Moses now has the #1 single on Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart.
The duo, made up of Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance, grabbed the top spot on the ranking this week with “Love Brand New,” a track off their new album The Silence in Between. Speaking with ABC Audio, Vallance shares that “Love Brand New” was influenced by a “pioneer of mixing dance music with alternative”: Trent Reznor.
“He’s maybe one of the best people at it,” Vallance says of the Nine Inch Nails frontman. “I think we can’t help but be inspired by acts like him, or acts that inspired him, like Tears for Fears or New Order or Depeche Mode.”
In fact, Vallance describes the very beginning of “Love Brand New” as a “little nod” to Reznor and the NIN classic “Closer.”
“We were obviously locked away not playing shows, and so … we dug into records from the past as sources of inspiration,” Vallance shares.
“Love Brand New” is Bob Moses’ first #1 Alternative Airplay single, which is fitting, given it was one of the first Bob Moses songs to feature outside co-writers: Swedish duo John Martin and Michel Zitron.
Howie shares that he and Vallance were initially “nervous” about a songwriting collaboration — “Writing songs can kinda be an intimate thing,” he says — but found it to be a rewarding experience.
“Now that we feel that we’ve really created a strong identity as the two of us, I think that we feel comfortable … [with] being able to open ourselves up to that new spark of creativity without letting too much outside influence steer us away from what we know Bob Moses is,” Howie says.
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