Deep Sea Diver

In the organizer's words:

Deep Sea Diver mastermind Jessica Dobson aspires to create meaningful music. Art with an inherent soul. When she tried out guitar solos in a studio in Los Angeles in July 2023, the spark was missing, it just wouldn't ignite. Just a few days earlier, she and her band had played a series of semi-secret shows in a bar in her hometown, which were intended as rehearsals for the recording of a new record. The gigs went well, but the sessions less so. The essence of the songs seemed muddled, Dobson's conviction lost somewhere in the thousand miles between Southern California and the home studio she shares with her partner, drummer and frequent co-writer Peter Mansen. Elliot Jackson and Garrett Gue complete the Seattle band. They returned home without an album and Dobson sank into a crisis of purpose: did they have to throw everything away to start again with new material?

Fortunately not: after a short break, Dobson found a new sense of self, a confidence in her vision for Deep Sea Diver, the songs and her ability to capture them. You can hear and feel this in every song on the fourth album "Billboard Heart", which deals with self-doubt and opportunities to find new freedom, faith and strength. At the same time, "Billboard Heart" emphasizes the ornate, magnetic way of making indie rock that the quartet is so well known for. The sparks that ignited the fire of the new work had been captured by Dobson at home, where the atmosphere was crafted by herself. The title track is the only song that Deep Sea Diver actually completed in Los Angeles. "Billboard Heart" is the result of Dobson's trust in her own instincts. As a result, it's probably the best Deep Sea Diver album to date, a defiant and brilliant exclamation point at the end of a long quest that ended happily.