caribbean


Capturing time in a BLINK of an eye


Every Bob Moses record carries its own emotional weather, but BLINK feels different. It is an album preoccupied with time itself, with the fragility of moments that vanish as quickly as they arrive. For Tom and Jimmy, the theme is less a sudden revelation than a slow accumulation of years, of questions about life, loss, and meaning that finally crystallized into songs.


“It feels like the themes of BLINK have been percolating in us for a long time,” Tom says.


“We’ve finally reached a point in our creative journey when we could crys- talize those ideas into songs in a direct way. I’ve always been obsessed with the meaning of life, of making sense of things, of finding the answer


to big


questions. This album is an attempt at accepting and understanding life in a way I never really have before. It’s a journey, we’re here for it, but it isn’t necessarily ours. We can’t hold onto moments or people or much of anything really, and we can be scared of that or try to come to terms with it.”


For Jimmy, the music takes shape in the unconscious.


“So much of the music making process is unconscious, and we like to let it be that way. We get better results when we get out of our own way and let the music flow. Everything in life makes its way into our music on its own. It doesn’t feel like we control it. Once we were into the writing process and these themes started to crystalize, that influenced the sounds and lyrics we were drawn to. Making an album is cool because the work you start collecting informs the next steps, but at the beginning we just try to shut off our minds and write honestly and see what comes out.”


The process behind BLINK was frag- mented, stretched across cities, carried by Dropbox links and Discord calls. Yet instead of breaking the thread, distance sharpened their focus.


“To be honest, it wasn’t that much different from how we’ve made our last records except that it felt more focused,” Tom explains.


“Even when we’ve been in the same city we usually start little ideas separately and then show each other. This time it was just, hey I sent you a link, check it out. The routine felt familiar, only more disciplined.”


Jimmy found the separation deman- ding but ultimately liberating.


“We booked lots of studio time toge- ther throughout the process, but when we worked alone it forced us to be more focused. In the past if one of us wasn’t feeling it, the other might just carry on while you sat there. Alone in the studio, it’s either you do the work or you don’t. And because our families needed more attention, we had to be more disciplined with the time we had.”


Looking back, they are not sure if this approach will become the new norm or remain unique to this album.


“I think we’ll keep elements of it,” Tom reflects.


“Each process informs the next. It’s all about finding ways to channel inspira- tion, and we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. What makes making an album distinct is the focused effort of distilling all our little ideas into one body of work.”


Jimmy: “We’re just fresh off this batch of tunes. You never know how things will have changed next time. The world is moving very fast at the moment.”


Catching lightning in the studio


Some songs arrive slowly, built piece by piece. Others appear in a rush, as if the air itself demanded they be written. For the guys, Time of Your Life belongs firmly in the second category.


“We met up with John and Michel who we’ve worked with a few times before,” Jimmy recalls.


“We were just riffing on ideas. Later in the afternoon Michel played us this beat he had been working on, and it ended up being the beginning of Time of Your Life. We were both like, yo what is that, that’s sick. We asked if we could work on it, and we just started going. It all came together really fast.”


Tom: “It was really fun. We were in a studio with a little working room and then a live room, just going back and forth, building melodies and ideas on top of the beat. Once we got moving, all four of us were pacing around, throwing out ideas, getting super excited. We had the speakers cranked and were dancing around. I think that magic comes when it wants to, and it can’t really be re- created. The magic will come back in a different form, but those moments of inspiration are fun and special.”


That spark is only one part of the process, though. Behind every rush of inspiration comes the discipline of refinement, a stage that can either protect or smother a song’s essence.


“There is real danger in refining too much, and honestly, as we’ve done this longer that’s one of the main things we’ve realized,” Tom admits.


“It’s a hard balance, but you just have to do your best and hope it works out. Having trusted confidants to play things to really helps, because they can let you know when you’ve messed something up. With Tearing Me Up that almost happened. We overproduced it and had to pare it back to get it to where it is now.”


Jimmy sees both sides as essential ra- ther than opposed.


“We are grateful for those moments of creative magic when they happen, but the slow work of making an album is a different process. They don’t really compete. You collect ideas, hopefu- lly formed in as many of those magic moments as possible but sometimes just from more methodical tinkering. Once you’ve got a bunch of ideas you’re stoked on, the personality and shape of an album starts to emerge on its own.”


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