Deep Sea Diver

Coloring their earthy indie rock sound with an arty post-punk ethos, Deep Sea Diver is the passion project of Californian singer/songwriter Jessica Dobson. After years performing with high-profile indie acts, she got a group together with her partner and issued their debut album, History Speaks, in 2012. Their breakthrough effort, Secrets, arrived two years later. A third LP, Impossible Weight, carried them into the 2020s, and they scored a record deal with Sub Pop for 2025’s vibrant Billboard Heart. It included an angsty duet with Madison Cunningham.Based in Seattle, Dobson is backed by spouse and drummer Peter Mansen, bassist Garrett Gue, and guitarist/keyboardist Elliot Jackson. In addition to stints with Beck, Spoon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the Shins, Dobson was briefly signed with Atlantic Records in 2004 as a solo artist. After recording a pair of albums for the label, she went independent and switched focus to Deep Sea Diver, releasing the debut EP New Caves in 2009. The group's first full-length, History Speaks, appeared in 2012. After a second EP (Always Waiting) in 2014, they released their breakthrough LP Secrets on their own label, High Beam Records. Secrets was recorded with Luke Vander Pol and Darrell Thorp (Radiohead, Beck), and included the track "Creatures of Comfort" featuring Shins frontman James Mercer on backing vocals. In the years that followed, Dobson and the band took their time crafting a follow-up. During that period, the adopted Dobson met her birth mother, an experience that contributed to the songwriting process for the outfit's third full-length, Impossible Weight. Released in late 2020 on ATO Records, the melodic guitars-and-synths set featured the singles "Lights Out" and "Wishing," as well as the title-track collaboration with Sharon Van Etten. A one-off single, "Hand in My Pocket" with Damien Jurado, followed in 2021, and Deep Sea Diver teamed up with Diane Coffee for "Forecast" from the latter's 2022's album, With People. After a false start recording the next Deep Sea Diver album in Los Angeles in 2023, Dobson and Impossible Weight producer Andy D. Park (Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion) took a fresh approach to songs written by Dobson, Mansen, and Jackson, updating the project's sound to something brighter and more energized. The resulting Billboard Heart included additional contributions from Caroline Rose, Yuuki Matthews (the Shins, Crystal Skulls), Adam Schatz (Landlady), and pedal steel wizard Greg Leisz, in addition to a decidedly un-folk-like collaboration with Grammy winner Madison Cunningham. It marked Deep Sea Diver's Sub Pop debut in February 2025.
© Neil Z. Yeung & Marcy Donelson /TiVo