Deep Sea Diver
Secrets
HIGH BEAM
6/10
You might not be familiar with Jessica Dobson and her band Deep Sea Diver, but chances are you’ve seen her grace a stage already. Dobson has played alongside Beck, The Shins, Spoon, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs in her surprisingly long career and is way past the “cutting teeth” phase. On Secrets, Deep Sea Diver’s sophomore album, Dobson’s confidence as a guitarist fuels her clear-headed pursuit of inescapably good rock.
From the very first track, Secrets begs you to “Notice Me,” and it’s a command that’s easy to follow. Opening with one tricky riff, the album continues down a path that’s just as hard to predict. Rhythms pitch and tones shift unexpectedly within songs and throughout the album, from the poppy shimmer of “See These Eyes” to the piano-driven tearjerker “New Day.” Underscored throughout by Dobson’s raw yet refined vocals, Secrets is a solid combination of grinding guitar riffs, subterranean bass lines, propulsive beats, and the occasional cascade of synthetic beeps.
