--Ada Wofford
----Released 16 October 2020 on ATO Records
Jessica Dobson has an impressive resume. She's played with Beck, Conor Oberst, Spoon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Shins. You'd be hard pressed to find a better indie rock education than that. On her third album with her band Deep Sea Diver, Dobson flexes that education and pulls off some truly memorable compositions.
I learned about Deep Sea Diver through the JHS Vlog. Josh Scott featured their previous album, Secrets on his Record Time segment some time ago. I checked them out, thought they were ok, and then proceeded to promptly forget about them. The other week, Scott interviewed Dobson on his vlog talking about her career, her influences, and her gear (I highly recommend watching it). At the end, the band performed their single, "Impossible Weight" and I was really blown away.
It has one of the catchiest choruses I've heard in a while and the arrangements are spectacular. Dobson snakes melodic lead through her own vocals without missing a beat. It's truly impressive to watch but even more satisfying to hear. She jumps between high pitched lead to low accents so smoothly it almost sounds like there are two guitars. After listening to the studio version so much, I had to return to the live video just to make sure she wasn't looping or had another guitar player—She wasn't and she didn't!
The album version features Sharon Van Etten taking the second verse and providing additional backup. Featuring Etten on the track comes off as a bit forced. It certainly doesn't take anything away from the track, but it doesn't really add anything either. I'm just not sure why they felt the need to do it but again, it doesn't detract from anything. As much as I love the track, there are some choices that feel a bit tacky such as the chimey synth bells that accent the chorus. Overdoing it is really the only issue this album has.
"Impossible Weight" is certainly the main highlight but the entire A-Side is pretty impressive. There is an interesting amount of early to mid-aughts indie influence at work here. Album opener, "Shattering the Hourglass" has lo-fi keys that sound like something Radiohead would have put on Amnesiac if they had all accidentally popped some valium that day. It has that Radiohead thing to it—That slightly jarring chord that sort of shifts the whole thing and makes it captivating, but without all of the doom and gloom of Amnesiac-era Radiohead.
To put my rambling analysis into context, during the JHS interview Dobson cites Radiohead as one of her all-time favorite bands and she describes Impossible Weight as a happier album than Secrets. Dobson considers Secrets to be a "red" album and Impossible Weight to be a "green" album (full of life, vibrant, etc. Not in the Weezer sense!). In addition to the Radiohead influence, you'll hear touches of Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and even a little Arcade Fire. Other tracks had timbres and melodies that brought to mind Animal Collective, Beck, Hundred Waters, and even Coldplay (the end of the choruses in "Wishing" sound like something off of Viva la Vivda, I swear!).
The two tracks, "Shatter the Hourglass" and "Impossible Weight" are the big standouts for me, but the album is solid throughout. As a guitarist, Dobson is mesmerizing, and the rhythm section really clicks. My biggest issue is with some of the synth work and some of the production. Everything is too clean, too on the nose for me. This is purely a personal preference but it's one I feel is especially popular right now among indie bands. I'm tempted to call it the KEXP sound: Super tight, well versed bands with impeccable tone. It's all just a little too neat and tidy for me.
Despite my, let's' be honest, ridiculous grumblings, I really enjoyed this album. There's lots of variation on it, catchy hooks, and some great guitar playing. If you're an avid KEXP listener but somehow managed to miss them, or if you're just into masterfully composed indie rock, then definitely check out Deep Sea Diver and their new album, Impossible Weight. Listen to the single below:
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